Today is April Fool's

Long before the Americans came to the Philippines, the Filipinos already had Fool’s Day. But it was not April Fool, it was part of the Twelve days of Christmas celebration — the Feast of the Holy Innocents which fell on December 28 to commemorate the martyred boys under two years of age that King Herod ordered to be massacred in his attempt to kill the Babe of Bethlehem who he feared would usurp his kingship. The legendary accounts say there were thousands of children killed. But modern research maintains that there were less than a hundred.

It is ironic that General Emilio Aguinaldo took his oath of allegiance to the United States government on April Fool’s Day in 1901. Most people concede that this was merely coincidental. But there are some who maintain that the Americans intentionally chose the date with malice. Historically, that is my most vivid memory of our first April Fool’s commemoration under the American Regime. As far as the history of my family is concerned, our greatest consciousness of April Fool’s Day is the fact that the Tribune which was the English edition of the Spanish La Vanguardia and the Tagalog Taliba first came out in 1925. Together the three known as the TVT. Now this was mere coincidence.

There are only two American holidays that some sectors of the Philippines observe and they are April Fool and Halloween. The greatest American contribution to our fiestas was Santa Claus. Before their coming, Filipinos exchanged Christmas gifts on the Feast of the Three Kings. After the Americans came and introduced Santa Claus, gifts were exchanged during Christmas. Santa Claus literally upstaged The Nativity. In the case of Halloween, the Filipinos already had their folk version of Halloween. They called it nangangaluluwa. People went from house to house asking for token gifts. If they wee not given any, they stole the chickens of their victims. Now children go from house to house saying, "Kiss my feet or give me something good to eat."

The main reason why April Fool is no longer celebrated is because no one is fooled that it is April Fool. The newspapers, radio and television warn everybody that it is April Fool. But the truth is that nowadays people don’t wait for April 1st to make fools of themselves. Everyday is Fool’s Day. Some people act like fools but most fools are not acting. And sometimes when we argue with a fool, he is doing the same thing. The biggest fools are the old fools. This is because they have had more experience and they can be foolish in a more dignified way.

Why is Fool’s Day celebrated on April 1st? There are many theories, but the most plausible explanation is that it happened when the western world shifted from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. In the Julian calendar, the year began on March 25, but festivals celebrating the New Year were celebrated on April 1 because March 25 fell during the Holy Week. During the 1500s, the Gregorian calendar was adopted and the New Year was moved to January 1. Those who could be fooled into believing that April 1 was still the New Year were the first April Fools. So it is the feast that serves to remind us of the old calendar. Knowing the past is not foolish.