Willie Nep still at it

Concert review: Panggulo ng Pilipinas 

MANILA, Philippines – The Music Museum was filled to the rafters the night Willie Nep staged Panggulo ng Pilipinas, yet another satire in time for the election countdown. Civil society’s frontliners wore their hearts in their yellow, red, blue and white sleeves, precariously poised in their seats, waiting for the parody of their presidential wannabes. One could slice the air, so thick with anticipation, as the campaign fever is breaking. The curtain-raiser did not fail them: The revolution of 1896, with no less than the firebrand general, Antonio Luna, waiting for the pretenders to the presidency of the nabantilawang (half-cooked) Republic to arrive.

With his volleys of puñetas aggravating his sidekick Goyong, he asks where his opponents were: The one from Pueblo de Makati with his maitim na balak (evil schemes); the foundling, whom he conjectures is anak ng frayle (priest’s child) because she was abandoned in a church; the Ilongga whose IQ is as high as her blood pressure, still looking for her sons Crispin and Basilio; and the Kinatawan ng Cubao, simbagal ng pag-asenso ng rating (slow as molasses in the surveys). Luna and the candidate known for his gutter language share a volatile temper that brooks no opposition. We all know what fate this belligerence led the gentleman from Badoc: The yawning chasm of violence — something that made the audience quiver, if the mayor from Davao wins.

As the strongman dubbed Heneral Artikulo Uno exits, another strongman enters, also an Ilocano — in a video spanning the Martial Law era until the People Power of 1986. Clips of the lavish parties of the conjugal dictatorship, the Plaza Miranda bombing, protest rallies and military tortures bring a flood of memories for those of us who came of age after Proclamation 1081. Ferdinand Marcos, now weary with lupus in his Hawaiian exile, claims in true revisionist history modus: Dahil sa kin, ang mga Filipino, nagkaisa. The hymn composed by Apo’s Jim Paredes ups and ends the video:

Di na ‘ko papayag mawala ka muli.
‘Di na ‘ko papayag na muli mabawi,
Ating kalayaan kay tagal natin mithi.
‘Di na papayagang mabawi muli.

And the audience, in unison vows: Never Again!

Then came the sketches on the five Presidential aspirants, Willie capitalizing on satire in its textbook definition: A comedic genre that draws its punch from hysterical deviations from an agreed-upon and socially condoned standard of values and behavior.

After having done this impression in past shows, Willie has perfected his Mar Roxas, appearing as guest in Rated K, with Willie’s daughter Frida doing her new persona, Korina Sanchez. In Pinoy macho culture, there is much laughter drawn from the coy scion of a political family being docile to his wife.

A video graphic spelled out the surname of El Jojo Penumbra: Bansot, Itim, Nognog, Anino and Yamang Kurakot and Willie appeared in this taped segment as the controversial trapo (traditional politician) of old: Claiming and promising the moon and the stars, lying and scheming to win, his speech interspersed with ano, ha?

Frida as Grace Poe is consummate, recalling how her adoptive father, Fernando Poe Jr. fought for what is right in Tagalog films, and her speech was peppered with one-liners from his movies like Kapag Buhay ang Inutang, Isang Bala Ka Lang, et al. In her reverie, Willie did The King from the afterlife, his impression so precise down to the swagger, just like for Joseph Estrada, whom he did earlier, roasting Mar as Mr. Palengke, Mr. Padyak, Mr. Cargador and Boy Semplang.

His Duterte act was a first, with the countenance so striking with gum-chewing mouth and chin-cupping hand. He went down to the audience and someone asked who his First Lady will be. He quips: Kopyahin ko si Erap, tacitly admitting he had several, and reprising his last presidential debate self-deprecating kanto boy claim that he has been copying from his seatmate since first grade.

The show’s finale was Cole Porter’s I’ve Got You Under my Skin, with which Willie prefaced his reminder not to be duped by promises and deceived by speeches as politics in the Philippines is full of great expectations leading to exploitations. This jab reminded of the Prince of Ancient Comedy, Aristophanes, who believed in the importance of satire and criticism in Athenian society. He cautioned that decades, even centuries, of not questioning or challenging the status quo have left them stagnant and weak against the Spartans. Precisely the goal of Panggulo ng Pilipinas, which will return for one more day tomorrow this Friday, May 6 before we cast our votes either for preservation or perdition.