I have been plagued by very silly thoughts for some time now. Today, I was not able to contain a particular one any longer, so while my friends and I were still having the standard what’s-new-with-you conversations over dinner I went ahead and asked them: if the Philippines will form its own Justice League, who will our members be? I told them I was at my wit’s end filling the gaps.

I know that JLA’s roster of superheroes have been varying over the years but for the sake of conversation, let’s narrow it down to the following: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl…let’s also include Aquaman. I told them that Superman and Wonder Woman came easily to me – their local counterparts would be Captain  Barbell and Darna, of course. (Darna also happens to be my all-time favorite Pinay superheroine) But what of the rest? Was it permissible to let Lastikman represent The Flash? Claire commented that Lastikman seems young to be in the roster, but she said she cannot think of anyone who could be a local Flash even by a stretch. I cracked up when she randomly suggested Nardong Putik. I thought he was too muddy to be let inside a posh headquarters so I ruled him out.

I enumerated Panday, Dyesebel, Alwyna of Mulawin, Kapitan Boom, Dragonna and let’s not forget Zuma, I said in jest. Randy excitedly said Pepeng Agimat and I said that he could be Green Lantern since they both use a talisman. PB mentioned Pedro Penduko and a superhero character played by Maricel Soriano in her younger years, she just couldn’t remember the name. I asked her if that character saved people in distress and she said she remembers as much – her weapons were those used by a ‘labandera’, palo palo and those things. I laughed at the idea and told her she didn’t fit in my imagination.

So eventually, we all agreed Superman – Captain Barbell; Wonder Woman – Darna; The Flash – Lastikman; Green Lantern – Pepeng Agimat; Hawkgirl – Alwyna and Aquaman – Dyesebel, opposite gender.

But we were all stumped with Batman; I told them this was really eating me. I asked them if it’s any indication that poverty is that deeply ingrained even with the Pinoy writers? And is it being subliminally causal to poverty (to some extent or whatever) since we feed the imaginations of the younger generation with our superheroes who aren’t the slightest like Batman?  Look at Panday - swordsmith, he probably isn’t even required to pay taxes. Tyagong Akyat (played by Gerald Anderson) and Pepeng Agimat (I’m not sure with the name, but I am sure Jolo Revilla played a character like this recently) and Pedro Penduko (played by Matt Evans) are not too far behind either. Claire said that we really can’t do a Batman for as long as we remain a Third World country – I thought why couldn’t it be possible for a Pinoy character to own a city like Gotham and have that kind of influence? Maybe Manny Villar can fill in the gap? : )

Aww, Batman. Thoughts of you keep running in my head