Pugad Baboy

Pugad Baboy (literally, "swine's nest" in Tagalog) is a comic strip created by Filipino cartoonist Apolonio "Pol" Medina, Jr.

The strip not only showcases domestic life; occasionally, it features adventure, drama, and pure spoof sequences.

[4] The newspaper later clarified that the cartoonist was not actually fired and the strip would just be suspended from publication until an internal investigation had been carried out.

[6] Online news website Rappler later hired him, with the strip being published as a webcomic on the site starting June 17, 2013.

[3] Medina later explained in a 1995 spin-off graphic novel entitled Pirata that Polgas developed human characteristics due to his master's exotic version of bibingka (rice cake) and exposure to radiation emitted by television sets.

[11] Polgas became a deep penetration agent of a fictional military division called the Organized Canine Bureau (OCB).

Medina's OCB was originally formed to combat the pilfering of stray dogs being sold in Metro Manila for their meat.

As Wisedog/Dobermaxx, Polgas has fought many foes over the years, ranging from the mundane (drug pushers[11]) to the fantastic (a lord of supernatural creatures[16]).

His most prominent foe is Atong Damuho (Renate Domingo), erstwhile drug pusher,[11] dognapper,[11] illegal logger[18] and most recently, magic mushroom courier.

The Tangaras are two siblings from Gingoog City that both share a close relationship with the Sungcals, they are one of Pugad Baboy's few thin, slim residents.

He specializes in "improvised weapons employment", and even took a part-time job as a bounty hunter at one time in order to earn some cash.

Igno is also extremely tough and invulnerable, able to shrug off most things that, at worst, would have destroyed a normal person's body.

During the epilogue chapters of the "Dugo ng Shinobi" Arc, 33 years later, an aged Igno is still seen to be in good health despite his history of maintaining a very dangerous and unhealthy lifestyle.

Lamon is a Tagalog verb meaning "to eat [food] in great quantities", or more loosely, "pig out", and is commonly used as a label pertaining to one's gluttony.

Among them are presidents Ramos, Estrada, and Arroyo, martial artist Ernesto Presas, politicians Robert Jaworski, Rene Saguisag and Richard Gordon, singer Freddie Aguilar, comedian Leo Martinez, boxer Manny Pacquiao, Pope John Paul II, Mel Gibson, and Michael Jackson.

Some of these appeared either earlier in the comic strip's run (such as Father Marty) while others were just mere extras (such as the Los Kosas Muntinlupas, Igno's former fellow inmates in Bilibid Prison).

Many of these were only given official names in "character guide" supplements in compilations (such as the inmates and the school principal, mostly hitherto unnamed).

In the early-1990s story arc Ang Hiwaga ng Dueñas (published in Pugad Baboy 4) the faith healer Mang Danilo, an old acquaintance, mentions that Bab was teenaged at the time of Woodstock (Bab immediately covers the faith healer's mouth as the word "Woodstock" is mentioned).

Examples of this running gag are Kules' Saudi friend, which the former calls Lancaster (because the friend smells like the langka or jack fruit), and the stinky concentrated chemical agent PSSI (pawis ng singit ng sundalong Iraqi or Iraqi soldier's jock sweat) mentioned in the story arc The Baguio Connection.

Other such gags include the monotonous diet of chicken in Saudi Arabia (also likely based on personal experience), Paltik's blatant aversion to the "coming of age" ritual of circumcision, and Polgas and Dagul de-appetizing Debbie on the breakfast table.

[20] As mentioned earlier in this article, the strip does not showcase domestic life alone as Medina has created story arcs which involve the various characters in adventurous, dramatic or other plotted situations.

The first compilation of Pugad Baboy comic strips was originally part of a thesis by Frank Aldana, a student of De La Salle University.

Directed by Leo Martinez, the show featured Edgar Mortiz (Bab), Giselle Sanchez (Brosia) and Rudy Meyer (Mang Dagul) among the cast.

Besides Pugad Baboy books, Medina has also published compilations of his editorial cartoons for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, called the Ink and Politics series.

They are also featured as endorsers of Quake Overload Cakes, a line of pastries made by snack company Jack 'N Jill.

September 2006: Dagul mentions Wikipedia in the third panel from Pugad Baboy nineteen. An English approximation of his dialog would be: " Ragnarok has replaced patintero (a traditional game), video conferencing has replaced lunch meetings, and Google and Wikipedia have replaced the library!"
Book signing of Pugad Baboy
Christmas-themed Polgas P-gurine c. 1995