WELL-BEING: One of my favorite senators told voters in the last campaign: “Gusto ko happy ka!” and they responded by placing him No. 5 in the winning lineup of 12 new/returning senators last May 10.

What is happiness? Don’t answer that one, unless you want to get embroiled in endless discussion. Happiness, after all, is a personal matter. Nobody knows for sure if an individual is happy except the person himself.

From 2005 to 2009, researchers of the Gallup World Poll surveyed thousands of subjects in 155 countries to measure two types of well-being indicating how happy they were.

They asked respondents to reflect on their overall satisfaction with their lives, and ranked their answers using a “life evaluation” scale of 1 to 10. Then they ask how they felt the previous day.

Based on the answers, researchers rated their “daily experiences” in relation to things affecting them. Those who scored high were considered “thriving.”

(I wonder how the term “thriving” coincides with “surviving,” with which I sometimes reply when people ask “How are you?” and sound like they really want to know.)

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HALF-HAPPY?: So how did dear Philippines fare in the Gallup survey? Sa awa ng Dios, we landed No. 94 among the 155 countries polled. Our slot is below the mean, which means that we are less than half-happy? Ask Gallup.

At this point, the inveterate Gloria-bashers are requested not to digress and blame again the ex-presidenta-now-congresista although the 2005-2009 survey was conducted during her term. There will be time later for the usual blame-tossing.

And Gloria supporters need not point out that Vietnam, rising from the ashes of war, was below us at No. 96. Or that China, the big dragon flexing its economic muscles north of us, is bogged down in No. 125.

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CONSOLATION: To help console us supposedly unhappy people, we might want to look down on other countries that scored lower.

Iraq picking up the pieces after the US invasion was No. 110. Egypt, the land of the pharaohs and the great pyramids was 115 — together with Morocco, one of the havens of the Marcoses when they were still on the run; with Sri Lanka that gave us sport broadcaster Ronnie Nathanielz; India exploding with a 1.15 billion population; and Afghanistan that the US wants to forcibly gift with democracy like it did poor Iraq.

Other neighbors in Southeast Asia that fared worse than us were Laos (130) and Cambodia (148). Not surprising at all.

Other neighbors whose higher scores indicated they were happier: South Korea (56), Pakistan (58), Taiwan (70), Thailand (79), Hong Kong (81), Singapore (81), Japan (81) and Indonesia (85)

But Bangladesh that many of us dismiss as a basket case, is No. 91, above us. Malaysia our neighbor also has a ranking of 94 like us.

Btw, tailender at 155 is Togo, a sliver of a country in the southwest corner of Africa.

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SCANDINAVIANS: The top five countries were all European: Denmark (1), Finland (2), Norway (3), Sweden (4) and the Netherlands (5). No wonder Filipino Communist leader Joma Sison and his camp in self-exile are fighting tooth and nail to stay there.

Material wealth may not always buy happiness, but note that the five happiest countries, clustered in the same nook of northern Europe, all enjoy high levels of prosperity.

Jim Harter, a chief scientist at Gallup, said: “The Scandinavian countries do really well. One theory why is that they have their basic needs taken care of to a higher degree than other countries. When we look at all the data, those basic needs explain the relationship between income and well-being.”

Russia, whatever is left of it after the Soviet Union’s dismemberment on Christmas Day of 1991, ranked 73.

France scored 44. Germany, finally reunited with the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1990, scored higher at 33. But their Austrian neighbors got 14 (same score as the United States), which could mean they lead more satisfying lives.

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LOCATION A FACTOR?: Is geographical location a determinant of a country’s well-being? Our neighbors down under are among the Top 10. There must be other factors.

New Zealand, whose sheep herd is much bigger than its human population, is No. 6. Its twin Australia is No. 8 just like Canada, another Commonwealth member. (The United Kingdom is rated 17.)

Compare Canada’s 8 to the 14 of the US. Is this the reason why more Americans are migrating to Canada than Canadians moving over permanently to the US?

Many Filipino residents in Canada with relatives in the US report enjoying better social services and a more satisfying quality of life north of the US border.

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HOLE IN THE SKY: Decades ago, when the Marcos dynasty ruled the land, then First Lady Imelda R. Marcos had the bizarre idea that development should not be measured by the Gross National Product alone, but also by how satisfied the people were.

With heavenly blessings showering on Filipinos through a hole in the sky that just happened to be right above us, she said in her nocturnal lectures, it is no wonder that Filipinos are always smiling, apparently happy.

Maybe many of us were just grinning and bearing it? (Btw, some Caucasian employers who take their business seriously are turned off when Pinay workers smile wanly and giggle after making mistakes in the office.)

Whatever, the Persledi said ever-smiling Filipinos were happy under their conjugal reign. Even reined-in horses, I understand, manage to snort and laugh hearty horse-laffs after they get used to their harness.