By Claire Nicole A. Mendoza

The summer heat waves are gradually cooling down. Meanwhile, a refreshing breeze has taken over the timelines of Filipino netizens. No, it’s not the Amihan or the Habagat winds. It’s a meme that’s too cool to ignore. And yes, it is the viral “Wat hafen, Vella” meme that’s once again making waves across the social media.

This meme originated from an episode of It’s Showtime’s popular segment, Kalokalikewhere. During this segment, one of the contestants chose Taylor Lautner as his celebrity look-alike. Channeling his inner Jacob of Twilight, he dramatically delivered the now-iconic line: “𝑤𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑢 𝑐𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑖 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑚𝑓𝑦𝑟 𝑟𝑦𝑡𝑠?”.

Filipinos, being the natural comedians that we are, quickly embraced this meme. We use it to describe everything from our everyday mishaps to our dramatic plot twists and even awkward situations. It has become our witty expression for anything complicated, chaotic, or simply too funny to explain.

Here’s where it all started:

Source: https://www.tiktok.com/@your_jiyaaann/video/7254569701139877126?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7273401538160002578

And here’s how it is going:

Source: https://www.tiktok.com/@bela050390/video/7496504692961283329?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7501960217857607175

Source: https://www.tiktok.com/@arielrojasph/video/7501679731478138120?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7501960217857607175

Through this meme, we can truly say that one of the defining outlooks of us Filipinos is our unique ability. We can transform even the most random things into a source of our collective joy. No matter how hot the summer gets, our days become chaotic, or life seems confusing, we always find a reason to laugh. We say with a smile, “Wat hafen, Vella?”

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