The greatest joke ever played

From the Americans the Philippines inherited two curious customs: Valentine’s Day and April Fools’ Day. Mark Twain once wrote about April 1st, “The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.” An early mention may appear in The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in England sometime in the 14th century. One of the stories, The Nun’s Priest’s Tale, tells the story of Chanticleer (a rooster) and the fox and takes place on March 32nd. However, the ultimate joke behind playing practical jokes on April 1st is no one knows when it began. Most scholars seem to believe that it is associated with the spring equinox.

In India, they celebrate the centuries old Feast of Huli on March 31. Of course, in Tagalog huli means “to catch”. The festival is commemorated by sending people on a fool’s errand. Of course, in the Philippines we never seem to catch anyone misbehaving. It is likely that this festival closely aligning with the Western April Fools’ Day is a coincidence. Scholars have put forth many different theories about the origins of the Western April Fools’ Day. One such theory involves pre-Christian cultures and May 1 (May Day). May 1 marked the beginning of the planting season; those who planted early were considered April Fools. Another “early-bird” theory, posited in a newspaper published on April 13, 1789 was Biblical in nature. Their theory was that Moses sent a raven off too early to see if the waters receded. The day he did this corresponds with April 1 in the Hebrew calendar. With the way our traffic is today, the joke is, nothing is ever on time, or even early!

What is a fact is that April fooling became customary in France after the adoptions of the reformed calendar by Charles IX in 1564 which made their calendar start on January 1. Before then, April 1 was the New Year and people customarily exchanged gifts. And so pranksters started sending mock gifts during April 1, or the old New Year. In France, a person fooled on April 1st is called poisson d'avril, or April fish. There are two explanations for the term. One says that it is because the sun is leaving the zodiacal sign of Pisces; the other, that fish is easily caught in April. Either way, France seems to be the progenitor of practical jokes.

Of course, our country’s first experience with April 1st, was one-hundred and eight years ago. On April 1st, 1901 General Emilio Aguinaldo swore allegiance to the United States government. Most people graciously concede that this was one of those ironic coincidences and not at all premeditated. Pre-American Era, the Philippines had their own version of “fool’s day”, which likely explains why the American celebration never really caught on. In Spanish Era Philippines, people would play practical jokes on gullible people on December 28. This, of course, is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, or Niños Inocentes. Further, in the pantheon of jokes, one of the greatest practical jokes ever played was on the Philippines.

In the beginning St. Raphael (an amiable archangel) addressed the Almighty:

“Lord,” he said, “please make the Philippines the most beautiful archipelago in the world.”

“Granted!” said the Lord.

“And Lord, make the islands abound with the most useful and productive plants and trees.”

“Granted!”

“Make its rivers, lakes, oceans and seas teem with many varieties of fish.”

“Granted!”

“And please, Lord, endow the Filipino with natural goodness, wisdom and the courage to fight for their rights and convictions.”

“Granted!”

“And the Filipina, Lord, please make them the most beautiful and dutiful women on earth.”

“Granted!”

After God granted St. Raphael’s five requests, all the nations in the world complained.

“Lord,” they said, “this is totally unfair! You gave the Filipinos everything!”

“Relax,” the Lord told them. “You have not seen the kind of politicians I will place there.”