Nanette Nafoolish loves pork but hates pork barrel

Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke. — Will Rogers                          

On the rainy afternoon that Miss World Megan Young caused a huge traffic jam in Makati with her victory parade, I stumbled on a Miss Third World pageant contender in the person of the famed 1980s’ Doña Buding. She was having a photo shoot as the reincarnated “Nafoolish,” the pork barrel queen.

The award-winning University of the Philippines-educated comedienne, singer, actress, model, and TV host Nanette Inventor makes some meaty revelations in this exclusive interview with The Philippine STAR. Excerpts:

PHILIPPINE STAR: What mischief are you up to now having this pictorial as the controversial Janet Napoles and having your mug shot taken like what your lookalike did at Camp Crame?

DONA BUDING: I have a show at K Pub BBQ Meat All You Can restaurant in The Fort, Taguig City starting October 16 and it’s entitled “Naughty Nanette Me” or NNM. K Pub is a place where you can meet all the people, they’re also meat (laughs).

So you are now the infamous Janet Napoles?

I shall be Nanette Nafoolish, plus other characters.

Wow, that would be a riot! By the way, the BIR is asking who is richer, Nafoolish or Doña Buding?

My show at K Pub will be a face-off between Doña Buding and Nafoolish. Who’s the real rich? Of course, it’s Doña Buding!

Why?

Doña Leonila Evaporada vuida de Ford or Doña Buding has more sources of wealth, because she married various rich men. Nag-apply siya sa lahat ng mga mayayaman sa Fortune magazine (She applied with all the rich guys featured in Fortune magazine), then they gave her their fortunes (laughs).

Was Doña Buding inspired by Dr. Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere character, the pretentious and colonial-minded Doña Victorina?

I don’t think so. It was created by award-winning writer-director Jose “Joey” Javier Reyes and inspired by the Blue Ladies during the Marcos era. It was the year 1983.

When you were making fun of the Blue Ladies on national TV, were there no attempts to censor, censure or even arrest Doña Buding?

No, I wasn’t doing political satire, what I was doing was a social satire.

The whole Philippines is waiting for Napoles to testify in the Senate. Will Madame Nafoolish name all the senators who gave her their pork barrels?

No, not even Benhur mentioned any senator’s name. I, as Nafoolish, don’t want to be a witness in the Senate hearing because I am the real victim here!

But can Nafoolish defy the Senate when it summons her to testify?

To testify in the Senate? For the colored-ribbon committee? I will be so blue, to face them (laughs).

How old are you, how come you have not changed, is this due to stem cell?

No, oh my God, I don’t like that! By the grace of God, I am young-looking (smiles). It’s just that  when you are in the depths of giving laughter, you have so much joy in your heart, there’s no room for a wrinkle.

OK, let’s rephrase the previous question: How many years have you been a comedienne?

This coming November, I’m hitting 30 years, November 14, to be exact. I debuted as Doña Buding on TV at the Penthouse Live show, which was then hosted by Martin Nievera and Pops Fernandez, his former wife.

You’re a singer and former member of the UP Concert Chorus. So will Nafoolish sing?

Yes, definitely I do sing, I don’t do performances without singing, except for Nafoolish. She will not sing, kasi marami ng kumakanta (because lots of people are already singing)!

How do you make our local Filipino audience laugh?

It really depends. They say the Filipinos daw (supposedly) are pikon (touchy or easily irritated), you should know when to kiliti (tickle), you just tickle them. What is important are your jokes, the material, it’s like your bible, your materials. Everytime I do shows abroad, the title is “It’s more fun to be a Filipino” and I do Pinoyisms, the foibles of the Filipino, of the Pinoy. I make fun of that, and they laugh at themselves.

Where do you get your materials for Nanette Nafoolish? Are a lot of your jokes inspired by our politicos?

The news is helping me. I also draw inspirations from the expressions of people in the streets; they help me, I listen to their rhetoric. On pork barrel, I believe that the truth will out, and hopefully we’ll see an end to all this corruption.

Speaking of pork, do you love to eat pork?

I love pork! Of all the meats, I like pork more than beef and duck. I’m a pork and seafood lover.

Do you cook? Any favorite pork dishes?

I cook, because I’m Kapampangan — my dad’s half-Kapampangan, a Panlilio, and my mother’s from Mexico in Pampanga. My pork dishes are mostly lutong bahay (homecooked) like pork with black bean sauce, very Chinese. I have Chinese ancestry in my blood. Every other week, my younger brother Atty. Pablo Inventor and I go to eat Chinese food in Binondo. We go to President Restaurant, Masuki, Mañosa, to other old eateries and even those hole-in- the-wall places.

I think you once had a concert titled “Buding for Mayor.” Will you enter politics?

I was asked several times to run, but showbiz is enough. Wherever we go, there’s politics, especially in showbiz. I am against the pork barrel, but I love to eat pork, and comedy is my way of expression, this is my platform.

Who among our politicos do you consider funny have a talent for humor/comedy?

I like the humor of ex-President Erap, I like him. Another one I find funny, but I don’t know if you can call him a politician, is Tong-gressman Manhik Manaog played by comedian Leo Martinez.

What about the humor of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago?

Miriam, she is the best! That woman, I am a big fan of hers. I hope she, she … oh boy, every time she talks, when she opens her mouth, I’m already expecting a punch line.

What about President Noy?

P-Noy, oh yeah, he has his moments, too.

Do you think ex-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s being too serious in public contributed to her lack of popularity?

GMA, they even said — this is the opinion of others —I heard may pagkapikon daw siya (she is thin-skinned or easily irritable). I never caught her in the news making a joke. The only time I saw emotion from her was when she said “I’m sorry”— I found it funny.

What about Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, who used to be a comedian?

Our mayor? Yeah, he’s funny.

What about Kris Aquino?

You know, another funny one in our politics, I find this guy quite funny, Senator Chiz Escudero. He smiles a lot and says “Chiz.” Another political leader who’s quite funny is ex-Senator Richard Gordon, he’s a smart and decisive leader at SBMA, which he turned it into a little Singapore, and he sings, too. There’s also Senator Tito Sotto, he’s into comedy and he’s funny with his two other fellow comedians as the trio Tito, Vic, and Joey.

What about the late comedy king Dolphy?

Oh yeah, he’s our idol. He had impeccable timing. And behind that funny face was a very serious person — generous, thoughtful, loving, caring. Dolphy was really dedicated to his craft.

Dolphy was also somebody — if you were new in the business, he had a way of helping you and supporting you. When I was just new, he got me to join his movie Templo ni Dune (inspired by Harrison Ford’s Temple of Doom). I also guested in his TV shows.

Who else among our newsmakers you would like to make fun of?

I would like to do impressions of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Napoles’ lawyer Atty. Lorna Kapunan, because our body physiques hindi nagkakalayo (not much different). I will not ridicule them but make impressions only.

No impressions of Senator Miriam?

I’ve also done Miriam Defensive, in a 1990s show called Rock the Vote.

Do you agree with Miriam when she said that Fidel V. Ramos cheated her in the presidential election?

Alam mo naman sa Pilipinas, ’pag natalo ka, nadaya, pero ’pag nanalo ka, nandaya. Di ba (You know quite well in the Philippines, if you lose, you were cheated, if you win, you cheated. Isn’t it) that’s our elections?

Back to your love of singing, who do you admire among our singers?

I’m a fan and wedding ninang (godmother) of talented singers Regine Velasquez and Ogie Alcasid. I used to do back-up singing for my idols like Basil Valdez, Celeste Legaspi, Leah Navarro, under the tutelage of the Ryan Cayabyab.

I heard you also admire Sharon Cuneta-Pangilinan and will be with her comedy show?

I like Sharon as a singer. At the tender age of 12, sikat na siya (she was already famous). I’m now part of her new TV5 show called Madam Chairman. Sharon’s not only a good singer, she’s also an actress, a host, and now a politician’s wife, all rolled into one like a lumpia. She can be a producer, too. But Sharon is first and foremost a very good singer.

In Madam Chairman, I’m Sharon’s tita (aunt), the sister of her mom and my name is Tiya Salud. Joey Reyes is the writer and Joel Lamangan is our director. Sharon is barangay chairman of Barangay Serye.

If not comedy and showbiz, what would you want to be your profession?

Teaching. I’m still a teacher, for 17 years already, because I come from a family of teachers. I teach communications at Wesleyan College, at the back of La Salle Taft.

Lessons from Doña Buding and Rizal’s Doña Victorina?

I once did Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo on stage at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), and we travelled to Japan and Malaysia. I played Doña Victorina.

Doña Victorina could be something of a Doña Buding of the olden times, of her era. She represented a certain character in society who personified hypocrisy, and this is seen not only in society, not only in politics, but in all of us as well; we all have it in us. The only solution to hypocrisy is humility —pareho silang “h” (both words start with the letter “h”), which I do not have because I’m Kapampangan (laughs).

Will your Nafoolish comedy at K Pub BBQ Meat All You Can resto be more fun than the much-anticipated Napoles show at the Senate?

You will enjoy my show not only because of the pork barrel — it’s really going to be a cholesterolific evening of laughter (laughs).

You have a very distinct and funny laugh. Why not give the many clowns in our politics real competition?

Malutong ako tumawa (I have a crunchy laugh), but I will not enter politics (laughs). 

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To reserve seats for Nanette Inventor’s show, for Oct. 23 and 30, contact K-Pub BBQ Meat All You Can at The Fort Entertainment Complex Center, 28th Street corner 5th Ave. Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City with telephone numbers 847-1961, 847-3098, 847-0232.

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