Francisco "Kenkoy" Harabas is a

Philippine comics Philippine Comics () have been popular throughout Philippines, the nation from the 1920s to the present. Comics studies, Comics scholar John A. Lent posited that the Philippine comics tradition has "the strongest audience appeal, best-known ca ...

character created by writer Romualdo Ramos and

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

and illustrator

Tony Velasquez Antonio "Tony" Velasquez (29 October 1910 – 1997) was a Filipino illustrator regarded as the Father of Tagalog comics and as the pioneer and founding father of the Philippine comics industry. He was the co-creator of ''Kenkoy'', an “iconic P ...

in 1929.Kenkoy by Komiklopedia on 2007/10/04
komiklopedia.wordpress.com Velazquez continued the strip for decades after Ramos' death in 1932. ''Kenkoy'' was seminal to Philippine comics and thus Velasquez is considered the founding father of the komiks industry.Filipino Artist Tony Velasquez – Founding Father of Philippine Komiks (Comics)
/ref> The term ''kenkoy'' has entered the

Filipino language Filipino ( ; , ) is the national language of the Philippines, the main lingua franca, and one of the two official languages of the country, along with Philippine English, English. It is only a ''de facto'' and not a ''de jure'' standard langu ...

to mean a joker,

jester A jester, also known as joker, court jester, or fool, was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch kept to entertain guests at the royal court. Jesters were also travelling performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town ma ...

, or a hilarious person."Kenkoy". '' Diksiyonaryong Filipino'',

University of the Philippines Press The University of the Philippines Press (or the U.P. Press) is the official publishing house for all constituent units of the U.P. system and is the first university press in the country, established on March 16, 1965. The UP Press is mand ...

Description

Kenkoy was a comedic character who wore a baggy pair of pants, suspenders and charol shoes, and had slick, pomaded hair. The modern translation of his Tagalog surname "Harabas" is "reckless". Filipino illustrator and cartoonist

Nonoy Marcelo Severino “Nonoy” Santos Marcelo CA (January 22, 1939 – October 22, 2002) was a Filipino cartoonist, animator and filmmaker. He is best known for creating comic strips that lampooned lifestyles in Filipino youths including ''Plain Folks'' a ...

described Kenkoy as a "ludicrous portrait of the Filipino pathetically trying but barely succeeding in keeping up with his

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

mentors," and as the "Philippine’s first true pop icon." Although with a funny personality, Kenkoy courted Rosing, the Manileña (a woman from

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

) who represented the

ideal Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considered ...

and romanticized

Filipino woman Women in the Philippines () may also be known as Filipinas or Filipino women. Their role includes the context of Filipino culture, standards, and mindsets. The Philippines is known to be a nation of strong women, who directly and indirectly run ...

– a female who was timid, shy, kind, caring, prone to jealousy, and impeccable – garbed (like Philippine national hero

José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is popularly considered a na ...

’s

Maria Clara Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, d ...

) in the traditional ''

baro’t saya The ''baro't saya'' or ''baro at saya'' (literally "blouse and skirt") is a traditional dress ensemble worn by women in the Philippines. It is a national dress of the Philippines and combines elements from both the precolonial native Filipino and ...

'' or the Sunday '' camisa'' (shirt) combined with the '' panuelo'' (kerchief), including the '' bakya'' (a pair of wooden

clogs Clogs are a type of footwear that has a thick, rigid sole typically made of wood, although in American English, shoes with rigid soles made of other materials are also called clogs. Traditional clogs remain in use as protective footwear in a ...

) footwear. Kenkoy’s competitor for Rosing’s love, affection, and attention was the handsome character named Tirso S. Upot (a wordplay, while "S" in his middle name meant to be "is", then "upot" in Tagalog meaning "uncircumcised", hence “Tirso is Uncircumcised”). Kenkoy eventually won the competition and married Rosing. Kenkoy and Rosing had eight children: their biological children Dayunyor Dyulie, Tsing, Doy, Dalisyosa, Etot, Nene, Piching, and adopted son Tsikiting Gubat, a mute but wily child.

History

The name Kenkoy was derived from common nicknames for the Francisco, namely Kiko, Iko, Kikoy. Kenkoy first appeared on the pages of the Tagalog-language literary magazine

Liwayway ''Liwayway''''Liwayway''
Komiklopedia, The Philippine Komiks Encyclopedia, Komiklopedia.w ...

on 11 January 1929. Kenkoy had always been portrayed in misadventures. Kenkoy was the lead character for the weekly comic strip ''Mga Kabalbalan ni Kenkoy'' (The Misadventures of Kenkoy or Kenkoy’s Antics). ''Mga Kabalbalan ni Kenkoy'' was translated into several regional languages in the Philippines. In the 1960s, Velasquez went with the flow of the fashion trend, shedding Kenkoy’s outmoded clothes. He started wearing pairs of pants similar to those worn by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, collared sport

polo shirt A polo shirt, tennis shirt, golf shirt, or chukker shirt is a form of shirt with a collar. Polo shirts are usually short sleeved but can be long; they were used by Polo#Players, polo players originally in British Raj, British India in 1859 and ...

, and

Converse Converse may refer to: Mathematics and logic * Converse (logic), the result of reversing the two parts of a definite or implicational statement ** Converse implication, the converse of a material implication ** Converse nonimplication, a logical c ...

brand

rubber shoes (; ) are traditional Korean shoes made of rubber. The shoes are wide, with low heels. for men were modeled after "'' gatsin''" (갖신), and ones for women were '' danghye'' (당혜). first appeared in the early 20th century. They were much ...

(

sneakers Sneakers (American English, US) or trainers (British English, UK), also known by a #Names, wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but are also widely used for everyday casual ...

). However, Kenkoy’s trademark polished and flat hairstyle remained. On the other hand, Kenkoy’s wife Rosing maintained her traditional image and demeanor.

Legacy

Language

Kenkoy, through his creators, was the origin of the “

pidgin language A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified form of contact language that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn fro ...

” that was the mixture of grammatically-incorrect yet effectively comical “

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

languages” usage contemporarily known as "

Carabao Carabaos () are a genetically distinct population of swamp-type water buffaloes ('' Bubalus bubalis kerabau'') from the Philippines.FAO 2013''Philippine Carabao/Philippines''In: Domestic Animal Diversity Information System. Food and Agriculture ...

", ("Kenkoy's English"), “

Taglish Taglish or Englog is code-switching and/or code-mixing in the use of Tagalog and English, the most common languages of the Philippines. The words ''Taglish'' and ''Englog'' are portmanteaus of the words ''Tagalog'' and ''English''. The ear ...

”, and “Spangalog” (a portmanteau, creole of Tagalog and Spanish, not the Chavacano of Cavite).

Music

Filipino musician and composer wrote a libretto about Kenkoy entitled ''Hay Naku Kenkoy'' ("Oh My Gosh Kenkoy").Ardivilla, Chong
Kenkoy kick-started 'komiks'
Filipino

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

Mike Hanopol Michael Abarico Hanopol (born April 10, 1946), also known as Mike Hanopol, is a Filipino rockLosorata, YugelMike Hanopol's lyrics of praise.(Entertainment)''Manila Bulletin'', Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp., March 28, 2005

wrote the song entitled ''Mr. Kenkoy''.

Film adaptation

A film version of Kenkoy was created in 1951, directed by Ramon Estrella and featured Filipino actors such as

Dely Atay-atayan Adelaida Fernando-Villegas (born Adelaida Marquez Fernando; March 17, 1914 – August 30, 2004), better known as Dely Atay-Atayan or Adelaida Fernando, was a Filipina comedian and singer. Her career in entertainment spanned seven decades, begi ...

, Eduardo Infante, and Lopito. At one point in 1946, Velasquez said in an attempt that he was paid to write a script for an animated feature film based on his famous character, but the project was abandoned and later shifted to a live-action.

Collected editions

References

{{Reflist Fictional Filipino people Philippine comic strips Male characters in comics 1929 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1929 Humor comics Philippine comics adapted into films Filipino comics characters