Psychoanalyzing the Probinsyano

Conflict in a family is a common narrative of Philippine teleseryes. Just recently, the movie of the late Fernando Poe Jr. was made into a teleserye. What caught my attention was the character of Cardo. 
 

Cardo is the twin brother of Ador. In the story, they don’t have parent s anymore and was taken cared of by their Lola Flora. They’ve always dreamt of becoming a policeman when they grow up. One day, while they were playing, Ador was about to get hit by a jeepney. Cardo tried to save him and got seriously injured. Lola Flora had to make a difficult decision of giving up Cardo for adoption to their childless Aunt and Uncle because he had to undergo surgery and they don’t have the resources for it. 

Cardo was brought to Singapore for the surgery. He was promised by his Aunt and Uncle that they will go back to the Philippines once he is totally healed. One night, his Uncle told him that he got a job in Singapore and they will be staying there for a longer time. He reminded them of their agreement. In order to pacify him, it was revealed to him that his Lola Flora gave him up for adoption. Upon revealing the adoption, her aunt told him that a possible reason why he was given up by his grandmother was because she loved his twin brother more than him. She even suggested that it would be better for Cardo to just forget his grandmother because she seems to have forgotten him already.  This was inculcated in the mind of Cardo making him hate his Lola Flora all those time they were not together. 

When Cardo was already a teenager, they returned to the Philippines. His uncle served as a doctor who conducts medical missions on behalf of the police. Unfortunately, Cardo was orphaned because his aunt and uncle were killed in an ambush on their way to a medical mission.

Basic assumption of psychoanalytic theory tells us that things that happen during our childhood can contribute to the way we later function as adults. Thus, I am interested in psychoanalyzing the character of Cardo and look at how his childhood affected who he has become as an adult by comparing his character vis-à-vis the character of his twin brother, Ador.

Ador vs Cardo

As a Police Officer

Ador is portrayed to be responsible and perfect. He graduated top of his class in the Philippine National Police Academy. Since he is a graduate of PNPA, he directly had the rank of Inspector - first rank for an official. He was awarded for his heroic deeds when he fought against a criminal on a train and when he tried to save a grandmother from danger because of a vehicular accident. Ador always follow protocols. He is brave enough to point out the wrongdoings of his fellow policeman. He is afraid to kill someone. In other words, he is the ideal policeman. 

On the other hand, Cardo is portrayed to be irresponsible and impulsive. He is an enlisted personnel with a rank of PO3. He makes rules of his own during police operations. He is portrayed to be someone who is impulsive and someone who feels like he is invisible. There was a time when he was almost late for a police operation. He is not scared to kill and not afraid of dying. In other words, he is not the ideal policeman. 

As a Man

As a man, Ador is also ideal because he is portrayed to be very responsible. When he impregnated his girlfriend Carmen, he immediately took responsibility by marrying her. He was portrayed as a responsible father to his child. He was also portrayed to be someone who doesn’t drink and knows how to cook Calderata very well. 

On the other hand, Cardo was portrayed to be someone who is not capable of handling a serious romantic relationship. He has this childhood friend named Glenn who obviously likes him. But he doesn’t seem to give attention to her feelings or he avoids confronting such emotions from her.  He seems to be a go-with-the-flow kind of guy. He is someone who tries to survive one day at a time. He always goes home drunk. His house suggests that he is someone who has no plans of settling down. 

The contrast between the characters of Ador and Cardo is telling us the difference of their characters based on their childhood. Ador had his Lola Flora for guidance, Cardo didn’t have anyone. 

The way their characters are portrayed is a manifestation of the assumption of the psychoanalytic theory. However, what I find problematic is because the portrayal seems to suggest that (1) a child with a guardian when he grew up will become a better adult compared to someone who was orphaned and (2) a child with problematic childhood will more likely become a problematic adult. 

I find this problematic because it doesn’t necessarily follow that someone who had a better childhood will become a better adult just like how inferior Cardo is portrayed compared to Ador. Their rank as police officers manifests this line of thought. Ador’s rank is much, much higher compared to that of Cardo’s. In the culture of police force, those who graduated in the PNPA are given more weight and respect compared to those who don’t. 

It doesn’t also necessarily follow that a problematic childhood produces a problematic adult. There are those who didn’t have parents but grew up to be really responsible and successful individuals. 

But what’s in it for us, end users? I hope that the portrayal of Cardo’s character will not lead us to think that some kids are better over others because they had a better childhood and generalize that a problematic child will become a problematic adult. Cardo’s character can be one result but it can also happen the other way around. We are not our past. We are the products of what we learned from our past – and it does not necessarily mean a problematic persona.