Jun Sabayton's Bayaw Gives a New Perspective on Philippine Politics

It's funny how comedy paints the reality of a serious condition. In the US, popular TV shows like Jon Stewart's The Daily Show or SNL  routinely mock the shortcomings of their leaders through sketches, exaggerated clips or, in the case of Stewart or Stephen Colbert, outright commentary. Here in the Philippines though, comedy and politics are not seen as a match made in heaven. Jun Sabayton and rest of his crew are looking to change that.

For people like me who watched UNTV in the early 2000's, Jun Sabayton is one of the constant bit players in the show Strangebrew. He, along with Ramon Bautista, played weird characters in the querky show that rose the late Tado Jimenez to prominence. A few years later, you may have seen him in Radioactive Sago Project's widely successful video "Astro". Nowadays, he is seen with Astro and Strangebrew director RA Rivera, Ramon Baustista and Radioactive's Lourde de Veyra in another comedic news and commentary internet program called Kontrabando. He is also a prominent cohort of Lourd de Veyra in Word of the Lourd, History and Wasak as well as in TV5's morning show.

Judging by his past and present roles, Jun Sabayton is not the conventional guy to turn to when it comes to politics. And this is what makes this BAYAW campaign effective. This is what makes it fresh. He is like Pugad Baboy's Cabalfin except that he uses actual lines and gimmicks of current presidentiables where Cabalfin is simply a generalization.

Think of it this way: Whenever Binay goes around and eats with the "masa" or hand feeds kids in a wet market, some say it shows how he is a working man's man while some may say he's just being a "trapo" and campaigning early. But whenever Jun Sabayton goes around and  does the same thing, what would the same people say? Or when Mar Roxas said something like "tinatanggap ko ang hamon ng aking mga boss!" when Aquino endorsed him, what did we say? Compare that to when Sabayton said the same thing last week when he came out in a balikbayan box to "declare" his candidacy.

People tend to focus more on who is speaking instead of what is being said. A good example of this is how Binay's "TSONA" was quickly dismissed by many simply because it was him who said.what he said.

With Jun Sabayton's Bayaw, it is easy for me to see how ridiculous it is to see a guy like Binay try to make himself look like a part of the masses. With Bayaw, it's easy to see just how ridiculous it is to see Roxas say "tinatanggap ko ang hamon ng aking mga boss" when we all know he's been trying hard to climb the political ranks for a long time. I mean, he would've been the LP candidate in 2010 had Cory not died. It's as if he's telling us he's only running because we want him to run.

I've long criticized the media whenever election season comes. I feel as though they don't really make people want to think about the important stuff. They flaunt their slogans about how change starts with me without recognizing that if they really do want "change" they have the power.

I've always believed that the media's call for change is a mere advertising plot by the massive corporations backing them. And this "Bayaw" thing may be no different. But hey, Jun Sabayton, once the world's most useless celebrity reporter, has never been known to let corporate competitions get in the way in doing what he wants.

Hopefully, Bayaw stays with us all the way tot eh elections. Hopefully, he continues to look like a complete tool/idiot as he mimics the people running for office. And here's hoping he dances like a complete nut job the same way our candidates do during political rallies.

And with that, let's give it up for Bayaw: