Nanette Inventor
Doña Buding,
and So Much More


Sometime in 1983, the Philippines was introduced (through Penthouse Live) to Doña Leonila Evaporada viuda de Ford, or, in short (and better known as) Doña Buding, a character conceived by Jose Javier Reyes as a social satire on the (stereotypes of the) nouveau riche (come to think of it, all kinds of rich people, actually) – on how they covet, not just desire, attention (and are willing to pay for it), on how they want to be always on top (and, again, are willing to pay for it), on how they look down on others so they would appear to be on top of everybody else (and, yet again, are willing to pay for it), on... a lot of things, all actually inane in the grand scheme of things.

But the updated version of Jose P. Rizals social climbing character in Noli Me Tangere, Doña Victorina de Espadaña, is also, well, funny – unconsciously, she may well portray the Filipino’s persona, from portrayals of the erroneously named crab mentality (no, crabs don’t pull each other down; they actually push each other up – but here, you get the point...) to the wanting to be better than other Filipinos (even if that means belittling others unnecessarily) to the emphasis on razzle-dazzle to cover everything up (forget merit, money trumps).

So similar to gay living, really, with the bitching and clawing and fighting of one’s way up; even if the naiveté remains, failing to see that no matter how hard one works (and despite the fruits of the hard work), you are as belittled as the people you belittle.

Doña Buding’s success was largely due to the characterization of Nanette (real name: Agnes) Inventor, a mass communications graduate of the University of the Philippines.  But while the character established Inventor, the real person behind the impression is, in her own, a force to be reckoned with in the Philippine entertainment industry – she was the first Filipino artist to perform in the Carnegie Hall in New York in the US, where she shared the stage with the APO Hiking Society; prior to Doña Buding, Inventor sang Gray Granada’s Salamat Musika at the 7th Metro Manila Popular Music Festival – and she won; she already has albums, including Sumpong under Universal Records; and she topbilled, among others, Menopause, The Wiz, Noli Me Tangere, El Filibusterismo, and Separasyon.

For as long as Filipinos associate wealth with weight (the fatter they are, the richer they are – they have food to eat, after all); for as long as Filipinos aim to be better (even attacking others if only to sound better); for as long as Filipinos refuse to see who they really are, putting on airs where there shouldn’t be any, then Doña Buding remains important to the brown race.
Just as important to GLBTQIs, too.