@re-joyce 15 March 2026

Filipino humor is interesting in the sense that it is always framed on satirizing or cushioning social issues, we have a network making riders dance while the price of gas is going up. We have Vice Ganda who mastered this craft by masking criticisms as jokes like with the recent student who had a hard time recognizing the Malacañang Palace, and we even have the legendary segment in Eat Bulaga where Jose fell in polluted water. And who could forget the brilliant skits made by Michael V? And in every social issue Filipinos have this ability to make humorous memes as a means to externalize their own understanding and experience with these issues. It is somewhat a reflection of how aware Filipinos are in terms of material struggle which is good, but the opposite effect is that it normalizes the issue to the point that we no longer see it as a social issue but a natural course of our everyday life. These jokes and skits are made because it is relatable, and it is relatable because of how rampant these issues are for everyone, and you can tell someone's economic class by the jokes they understand. Kanal (non-derogatory) humor is mass based.