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Have you ever wondered how an interview between former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and current President Benigno Aquino III would sound like? For the not too serious person, how about combining the likes of Kris Aquino and Manny Pacquiao, or even Vice Ganda and Nancy Binay? Still not interested? What if the Los Angeles Lakers, news bits and quotable quotes are thrown into the mix? Well, for those who are looking for a fresh and lively blog with a political and comedic twist, The Professional Heckler is just for you.
The Professional Heckler (TPH), which started in 2007, is the brainchild of Loi Reyes Landicho, who is a UP Los Baños Development Communications graduate. His wildly successful blog has been the recipient of the Best Blog Award in entertainment and humor by the Philippine Blog Awards for four consecutive years now, since 2009. He was even awarded the Globe Tatt Awards in the Word Slayer category, all because of the tagline that the blog runs by: “The problem with political jokes is they get elected.” Read one post, then read one more, and by the time you know it, you would have read tons of posts, dating back to several months or even several years. Indeed, one cannot help but marvel at TPH’s wide imagination, for it takes a quick-witted brain and a perennial kind of awareness for one to operate a political blog.
Despite treating blogging only as a sideline, TPH has a way with words that ordinary people simply cannot crop up. In fact, his blog is a one-stop shop for very busy metropolitan dwellers who do not have the luxury of time to sit through a lengthy news program. He combines wit with sarcasm in featuring the latest occurrences in both political and showbiz arenas. Since innumerable news stories come out one after the other, TPH also churns out a blog post once every two to three days to keep everything fresh.
Of course, his exploits in the blogosphere is not only limited to writing paragraph after paragraph of news. He occasionally features ”Quiztions”, which are hilarious multiple choice queries regarding the hottest talks of the town. His blog also serves as a repository of “How many (insert the kind of person) does it take to fix a light bulb?”, as well as “Why did the chicken cross the road?” jokes. For those who want to boost their critical thinking skills, it might be helpful to figure out the people behind the blind items that TPH aptly places between the lines. It is worth mentioning that TPH holds movie trivia contests that will certainly spike your competitive spirit on Twitter (@HecklerForever), where he has amassed almost 70,000 followers.
Humor as beacon for change
While Filipinos are associated to be too much on the corny, unproductive side of humor (thinking of pick-up lines and all), TPH has used a different slant of humor to his advantage, as attested to by the late Philippine Star columnist, William M. Esposo, who had labeled himself as The Chair Wrecker. Esposo credits TPH, as well as another spirited good governance advocate, Juana Change, in leading the country forward, especially when it comes to the Anti-Epal watch.
Esposo highly praised TPH for creating awareness among the citizens, all because of his traditional formula for comedy, wherein the high and the mighty are made fun of by those below their station in society. He concludes by wishing for more TPHs to emerge from the Philippines’ young society, and to use these combined abilities to laugh our way to economic and political emancipation.
All in all, TPH is a multifaceted winner, simply because he has been able to market himself as a distinct brand. There are countless blogs out there, but he has remained irreplaceable in this highly digitized and sensitized society that most of us still grapple with. A dose of truth here, and a shot of humor there, and another classic blog post is born.
While the former generation still has a penchant for reading the newspaper, the habit of reading has dwindled with the current generation. Still, with all the handheld reading devices available these days, there is no reason for anyone to be caught unaware of the latest occurrences. In fact, subscribing to TPH’s blog posts may just be your ticket to get away from an ignorant spirit or a stressful term.
After six years of chronicling events in Philippine politics and showbiz, TPH does not look like he is stopping soon. In fact, the train got even more upgraded; and hopefully, we would be wise enough to join the bandwagon.
