When we think of the ties that bind us, a nation of disparate people separated by seas and straits, spread out among 7,107 islands and speaking over 70 different languages and dialects, we tend to home in on food, religion and kinship. But perhaps the one thing we really all can relate to is good old Pinoy humor. Sometimes mababaw, often a clever play of words, our humor is side-splittingly punny and funny. It’s just da bess!

Flipping Pinoy humor with us is the legendary Rex Navarrete, one of the first Fil-Am comedians to become a mainstream international comedy sensation. He talks with surprising candor about how laughter heartens, heals, and humbles — not to mention unites — both audience and comic. Life is hard for many Filipinos. And whether you’re an immigrant in the US, or a Pinoy at home trying to get through the daily grind, laughter becomes the balm that keeps us sane. Tawa nalang ng tawa!

Hospitals, airports, cruise ships ... Filipinos are EVERYWHERE. So why are we nowhere? Or why has it taken this long for us to appear, as us, as Filipinos on TV shows and in movies? We chat with two industry experts — one running the show and another facing the audience — about why we need to create our own stories and support our storytellers. Flipping all the narratives with us are director, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging consultant, and veteran entertainment and media policy expert Cris Sales and Victor Lirio, critically acclaimed actor and theatre director specializing in text-based impact theatre, who, before the pandemic, was working at the Old Vic/National Theatre in London.

They raise important questions of identity and visibility, how we see ourselves and how we want to be seen. So we’re on the hunt: nasaan nanga ba ang mga Pinoy? We need to be onscreen, definitely, but we should have a seat at the decision-making table, too.

Girl can’t help it, she needs to tell stories. Ramona Diaz, the award-winning documentary filmmaker, has brought to the screen some of the most disturbing, heart-rending, inspiring and ultimately illuminating tales of the Filipino experience - the fearless journalist facing a lying and vindictive president (A Thousand Cuts), an unknown cover singer with incredible vocals who fronts a legendary rock band (Don’t Stop Believin’: Every Man’s Journey) teachers recruited to teach in inner city schools in Baltimore (The Learning), a delusional former First Lady (Imelda), and more.

She sits down with us to flip the notion of love of country, likening the draw of the motherland to the lure of an ex-boyfriend: we don’t stop believin’ but he still keeps on disappointin’ … so where do we go from here without shattering our psyche? Or further widening the polarizations in our society? Sometimes all we need is a welcome shot of babaw Pinoy humor.