José Zabala-Santos (sometimes spelled as Jose Zabala Santos[2]) (20 July 1911 – September 7, 1985),[1] nicknamed as "Mang Pepe" ("Mister Pepe" in the Tagalog language[3]) by hometown neighbors[1] and as "Zabala" by colleagues in the cartooning profession,[2][1] was a successful cartoonist in the Philippines[2] and was one of the pioneers of Philippine comics.

[4] He became one of the most popular cartoonists in the Philippines during the 1950s because of his cartoon characters such Popoy, Sianong Sano, and Lukas Malakas.

[6] Although born in Calumpit, Bulacan, Philippines in 1911, Zabala spent his childhood years in Malabon, Rizal.

[1] Zabala officially started his cartooning career in 1932 through the sponsorship of Amado V. Hernandez, who was then the editor of Sampaguita magazine.

[6] In 1970, Zabala retired from the Philippine Manufacturing Company in order to join the advertising agency of Francisco Reyes, another Filipino pioneer in comics.

[1] In 1978, Zabala joined his nephew Nonoy Marcelo, also a cartoonist[4] to work on the production of Tadhana ("Destiny"), the first-ever Philippine feature-length animation film.