Pinas’ King of Comedy is Dead, But Pinoy Comedy Lives On

A Cup O’ Kapeng Barako
By Jesse Jose

“A day without laughter is a day wasted.”  — Dolphy

Dolphy is dead.

The King of Philippine comedy is no longer with us.  He’s been called home to the Lord.  May he rest in peace.  He was 84.  Every Filipino all over the world knew of him.  I knew of him when I was still a school kid at Rafael Palma Elementary in San Andres Bukid, Manila, way back in the 50′s.  I’ve seen him in many comedy shows with Panchito.  I joined the US Navy in 1960, traveled the world, loved lots of women and fought in a war.  Years later, when I retired from the Navy and came back ”home” for a while, Dolphy was still on the scene making people laughed.  Once again, I enjoyed watching him in that true-to-life, simple, comedy show, “John en Marsha” with Nida Blanca.

In terms of comedy, he was “it.”  He was an institution.  He was a pillar.  He was a natural.  His talent in making Filipinos laughed was endearing and enduring, and his comedy endured through the years.  Decades, in fact. Panahon pa ng Hapon. 

As Ms. Charo Santos, the president of TFC’s (The Filipino Channel) ABS-CBN and host of of “Maalala Mo Kaya,” said: “Nagbigay siya ng mga ngiti at halakhak sa gitna ng mga problema.”  He gave us joy and laughter in times of trouble.

He was prolific, NOT only as a comedian, but also in “fathering” children.  He fathered 19 children from several relationships with beautiful women.  He said his children were his “pride and joy.”  He took good care of all of them.

He never married.  His latest partner of 20 years was Zsa Zsa Padilla, a gorgeous award-winning actress and popular singer and recording artist.

Goodbye, Dolphy.  Rest in peace.  Thanks for the laughter.  The Motherland sorely needed it through those years….

In honor of this great comedian, what follows is dedicated to him.  Siempre, it’s something that we Pinoys can enjoy and laugh about.  It was sent to me by a cyberspace friend, named “Doc” Lee Lagda.  When Lee sent me this piece, he wrote:

     “This is great!  To be a Pinoy is to be diverse and sometimes perverse but, most important of all, to be a Pinoy is to be funny!  I think the Pinoy humor is what carries him through tough times. He knows how (ha ha ha) to laugh at himself.  PS: Make sure it’s PINOY, NOT Penoy.”

Here it is, Dear Readers.  It’s titled, “Are you a Pinoy, enjoy, don’t be a Penoy.”

Pinoy is what Filipinos call each other, a term of endearment. You’re Pinoyfrom Pilipino just like you’re tisoy from mestizo or chinoyfrom chino.

It’s a nickname just as Minoy is from Maximo, Ninoy from Benigno, Tinay from Florentina and Kikay from Francisca. (But now they’re Maxi and Ben and Tintin and Cheska.)

You’ve been called indio, goo-goo, Negro, flip, noypits.  Or Filipino, a biscuit that is brown outside and white inside, or a word stricken from the dictionary which means “domestic.” Ay, lintik!
You’re Juan de la Cruz or Mang Pandoy. You’re common tao, masa, urban poor but also Cecile Licad and Don Jaime, Jose Rizal and Tony Meloto, Shawie andPacquiao and Nick Joaquin — galing-galing!
Born

June 12, 1896, the Republicof the RP is a Gemini, good at connecting, good atloving-loving, good at texting  and interpersonal skills. Filipinos like to yakap,akbay, hawak, kalong, kalabit. We sleep side-by-side, siping-siping, we go outkabit-kabit.
There’s lots of us to go around. Someone always to listen to a sob story, even in a jeepney, to share-a load or to share a TV.

Pinoy family extends beyond nanay, tatay and anak. It includes lolo,lola, tito, tita, and so on….

Who has a hipag, a bayaw, a bilas, a balae, a kinakapatid? Who has an ate,dete, diche, kuya, diko? The maids call her ate, the driver calls him kuya and everybody is tito or tita.

Who has a Lola Baby, a Tito Totoy, a bosing called Sir Peewee, his wife Ma’am Lovely and their kids Cla Cla and Cring Cring?

The Pinoy lives in a “condo”, a mansion, an apartment, a bahay na bato, ilalim ng tulay, Luneta, Forbes Park , –and Paris , too!

He’s a citizen of the world, he’s in all the villages and capitals, colonizing the West, bringing his guitar and his bagoong, his walis na tingting, his tabo, hislolo and lola.
Where there’s a beat, there’s a Pinoy. You’ll find her singing in a nightclub in any Asian city, a musical in London , the Opera House in Sydney . Sure, they’ve got the infrastructure, the theaters and architecture. Who but Pinoysdirect their plays, or trains their company managers, and imports our teachers, by the way?

Viagra to Victoria ‘s Secret:

Look at that baggage-all pasalubong, none for herself. From bedsheet to hair color, Toblerone to carpet, Viagra to paella pan, Victoria’s Secret to microwave.

Hey, Joe, don’t envy me ’cause I’m brown, you’ll get ultra violet from that sun and turn red not brown.

Just lucky, I guess. GOD put us all in the oven, but some were uncooked and some were burned, but me, I came out golden brown!

Hey, Kristoff! Hoy David and Ann!

Your Pinoy yaya makes your kids gentler, more obedient, she teaches them how to pray. Hey Big Brother! Hey Grandma Moses! Who but Pinoy nurses make your sick days easier all the way?

We made the jeepney, the karaoke, the fluorescent bulb, the moon buggy. We invented People Power and crispy pata; popularized virgin coconut oil, scaled the Everest and made it with Cebu furniture abroad among the best. Ever trying for the Guinness World, with the longest swim of a child, the longest kiss, thelongest longanisa.
The Philippines’ King of Comedy is dead, but Pinoy Comedy lives on.  As Dolphy once said: “A day without laughter is a day wasted.”  So be Pinoy, enjoy.  Okey ngarud, that’s all.  JJ