NOW that the looong weekends are so over, the Cagayanon realizes there will be no holidays in May. He has to visit Bohol if he wants fiestas and holidays this month.
A fiesta is a Pinoy’s best friend. Lechon and all the pork and beef dishes he can think of are on the buffet table. Plus the carbs, sugar, and alcohol: rice, spaghetti, pancit, macaroni salad, fruit salad, buko pandan salad, mango float, leche flan, softdrinks, fruit juices, beer, Tanduay. He hops from one house to another, feasting on practically the same food groups.
And then, there’s the “bring house” (BH) and its background music, Sharon Cuneta’s “Bituing Walang Ningning.” Guests sing along with her—“Balutin mo ako ng hiwaga ng iyong pagmamahal”—while putting food in a “laptop” a.k.a. lapad na Tupperware, and sometimes this happens even before the lunch or dinner is over.
How nice then for RC Cola to release its latest commercial, “Balot,” just in time for the fiestas.
In this ad, a wife arrives home and announces, “Kain tayo! May dala akong meryenda.” Her hubby asks, “Uy! Saan galing?” She replies, “Birthday ng anak ni Mareng Nenet. Nag-uwi ako.”
Take note, it’s Nenet. Not Netnet. Haha.
Anyway, she proceeds to take out BH from her huge tote bag, like a magician pulling bunnies out of his hat.
Instrumental music then starts to play—the familiar notes from “Bituing Walang Ningning.” There’s a dish in a small plastic bag. Another dish in a “laptop.” Pancit in a kawa. Yes, a kawa, the pancit still untouched. A kaldero with cooked rice. Yellow and blue balloons. Finally, the instrumental music has lyrics now, “Balutin mo ako…,” as a partially eaten lechon, still on the lechon tray, rises out of the tote bag.
And there’s more. The birthday celebrant wearing a party hat and holding a hotdog on a stick. A clown. And an Ate Shawie impersonator singing, “Mabuti pa kaya'y maging bituing walang ningning…,” as the clown juggles bowling pins. And, of course, there’s the RC Mega Litro.
Mega, megastar Sharon Cuneta—you see the connection now. Then they eat together, the clown burps, and they laugh.
Yes, the wife brought home the birthday party, not only the BH.
It’s all fun and games until coming out of that same tote bag is Mareng Nenet! Who then asks, “Mare, nakita mo ba si Jun-Jun?”
RC Cola is known for its weird commercials, but this latest one is not weird at all. It’s funny and the Pinoy is relate na relate with it.
The BH is a Pinoy tradition that encourages sharing the fruits of one’s labor. Since Labor Day is on May 1, how timely then for Bohol to have its fiestas in May. And for its famous tourist spot to be named as Chocolate Hills, and for the favorite Bohol pasalubong to be calamay and peanut kisses, as if constantly reminding visitors that they’re there for the fiesta.
There’s this song, “Kon ikaw Inday mangitag pamanhonon/Siguro-a baya Inday ang Bol-anon/Kon matuman mo suwerte ka/Ang Bol-anon buotan gayud/Magmahal kanimo hangtud sa kahangturan.”
That’s food for thought for Inday who’s still looking for her soulmate. Her lovelife will then be as sweet as calamay, complete with peanut kisses.
But May is for Mother’s Day, meaning, there’s already a soulmate and a baby. The ultimate BH. So, the calamay and peanut kisses worked!
