Matrona

History

Medina conceived the strip while working under contract in Iraq in 1986. On May 18, 1988, he pitched his strips to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. His strip, named after a friend's piggery in Bulacan, was accepted on the spot.

Medina originally spelled "Pugad-Baboy" with a hyphen in the strip itself, though not in the title.

For many years, the strip was exclusively a black-and-white daily. A full-color Sunday strip in the same paper debuted on October 3, 2004. The full-colored strips ended their run sometime in 2009. Before the tabloid Inquirer Libre debuted, the strip appeared exclusively in the Inquirer broadsheet.

In a strip published in September 2006, Medina commented on online life substituting for physical contact. He mentioned Wikipedia as one of the alternatives to library visits, the other being Google.

The Inquirer decided to discontinue carrying Pugad Baboy in its comics section beginning June 5, 2013, after a strip for the June 4 edition reportedly lambasted hypocrisy among Christians against homosexuals when certain sectarian schools condone such students among their ranks. 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. However, Medina officially resigned from the paper on June 7, 2013. Online news website Rappler later hired him, with the strip being published as a webcomic on the site starting June 17, 2013. The new version offers readers alternative punchlines with the respective voting options.

Its final strip on Rappler, depicting a portal, appeared on March 1, 2018. The strip returned to print media with its first appearance in the Philippine Star and its sister publications, Pilipino Star Ngayon and Pang-Masa, on March 5, 2018.

Characters

The Sungcals

The Sungcal family reflects aspects of traditional and stereotypical families, with a housewife and an overseas contract worker as members, with a domestic helper to supplement. "Sungkal" is a Tagalog word for the term "digging a hole with a (pig's) snout".

Dagul (Adagulfo Sungcal Jr.), often referred to with the title Mang (Mister) – i.e. Mang Dagul – The patriarch of the family. He works as a chef in a five-star hotel where he specializes in unorthodox dishes. He is often shown at home, usually voicing out on the state of affairs in the Philippines. He is also highly xenophobic. Over the years, he studies different martial arts like karate, arnis and aikido (like Medina), and he also dabbles in tennis and golf. He calls his wife "Honeycured." "Dagul" is Filipino slang for someone or something big. At the end of The Returnee story arc, the Tangaras lend Dagul money so he can quit his job and start his own small restaurant in his house's front yard.

Debbie (Debra Anne Sungcal) – The matriarch of the family, a loving traditional housewife and mother. Her recurring traits include a love for bargain shopping, indecision regarding actual purchases (sometimes on purpose), and complaining about decisions she lets Dagul make (much to Dagul's annoyance and regret). Also, she extremely highly dislikes any honest opinion Dagul gives her about her figure and/or clothes she wears or tries on – to the point of throwing him out of the house, despite her demanding honest opinions in the first place. She is also the constant victim of disgusting table conversations between her husband, Polgas and sometimes with Utoy. She calls her husband "Sweet Ham."

Kules (Hercules Sungcal) – The eldest son, a building engineer in Saudi Arabia. When not working, he reads letters from pen pals, goes on blind dates (usually with funny consequences), hangs out with his friend 'Adre (short for compadre; see below), or thinks about the events back in the Philippines. Much like Kules, Medina was formerly a contract worker in Saudi Arabia. The origin of his name is often mistaken to be that of the legendary Greek hero of the same name, when in fact, he is named after the Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft. After marrying Mandana, Kules resigned from his overseas job and returned to Pugad Baboy for good, sporting longer hair.

Tiny (Cristina Sungcal) – The teenage daughter. Her name is not only an obvious misnomer, but also a testament to her vanity and denial regarding her size. She asserts herself as sexy and repeatedly insists that her waistline is 28 inches (the last time this was true was when she was 9 or 10 years old). She does commit herself to diets that often end in failure. Her cooking leaves much to be desired by her family, and is sometimes inedible (in one strip, she naively uses papaya soap in place of the fruit). She studies in the University of Santo Tomas, where Medina graduated in 1983 with a degree in architecture. There, she takes up mass communication, a course the university does not actually offer. She is currently being courted by Brando, whose name is always mistaken by Bab and Dagul, and Tiny correcting them all the time. But in the beginning she allowed herself to be courted by Bab, and this happened only for a short period of time. She also is a cosplaying enthusiast.

The Tangaras

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. Their surname is a play on tanga, a Tagalog word for "stupid".

Brosia (Ambrosia Tangara) – The Sungcal family's housemaid. She is brainless, as characterized by her nonsensical remarks and her mesmerization by reading materials in English. Medina eventually elaborated on this trait and said she couldn't afford to advance her studies. She does possess excellent math skills regarding financial issues such as bank accounts, deposits, salary computations, currencies, etc. As said by Dagul in Pugad Baboy 17, "'Pag sa pera nga pala 'di ka tanga no?" ("So, you're not dumb when it comes to money, huh?") She makes up for her general lack of intelligence (or formal schooling) with witty jokes, insults and pranks on the community's various residents. Her most frequent victim is Dagul, whose semi-baldness becomes the butt of her jokes, much to his chagrin. As revealed in The Bourney Ambrosity, there was an attempt by Polgas to recruit Brosia in the OCB, under the codename of "Amrita", but she was unable to absorb any of the physical, linguistic, and technical training, or so they thought; the amnesia inflicted on her in the storyline brings out this myriad of abilities, including dealing with English, but appear to be inaccessible if her original Brosia persona is active.

'Adre (Cesar "Butch" Tangara) – Brosia's older brother and Kules's best friend and fellow worker in Saudi Arabia. He shares the same interests and sentiments with Kules, sometimes with photos of their penpals. His relation to Brosia was revealed when he went home to the Philippines for a vacation (Kules was also home at the time). Adre is now also resigned from a job in Saudi Arabia following his best friend's wedding and now currently resides back to the Philippines for good. 'Adre is short for kumpadre or male best friend.

The Sabaybunots

The Sabaybunots reflect a very violent but tolerably quiet household. "Sabay, bunot!" is used by the Philippine military as an oral Tagalog command during martial ceremonies when the drawing of weapons is called for, as in the drawing of officers' swords. It roughly means "draw simultaneously". This may be in homage to Tomas' military background.

Tomas, also known as Sarge (M/Sgt. Tomas Sabaybunot) – Representing the Philippine's military branch, he is a master sergeant of the Philippine Air Force. While said to be fearless and often trigger-happy, his "chauvinist pig" lifestyle is ironically neutralized by his dominant wife. He is often reduced to doing inane chores, and any attempt to complain about said chores results in physical battery by his wife, hilariously, to the point of that he considers wartime more peaceful than his domestic life. His name could be a pun on toma, Filipino slang for alcoholic drinks; Tomas does like to drink a lot, as does his cousin Igno. Tomas also likes to spend his "extra time" at disco bars, though this occasionally leads him to having gout. And though he has a large collection of guns, he suffers from a severe fear of needles. At the end of The Returnee story arc, Tomas retired from the military service following his new business, a new coffee plantation and a new military training facility in Cavite. The Tangeres' new farm is right beside his new place. He was stuck in Master Sergeant rank, joking that if he became a pimp to an officer who was unnamed, he will be promoted.

Barbie (Barbara Q. Sabaybunot) – Tomas's wife. She frequently orders Tomas around, probably due to his chauvinism, his womanizing, and her extremely feministic views. This difference of opinion often turns into a physical altercation, such as Barbie giving a tiptoeing Tomas her trademarked uppercut whenever he arrives home in the wee hours of the morning drunk and/or smeared with the scent of women's perfume. Her maiden name (Barbie Q.) is a pun on barbecue. In Pugad Baboy 18, her first name was rendered "Barbara-Queen" (possibly after a local barbecue franchise called Grill Queen). She often spends her free time doing physical workouts (lifting weights, etc.). She is also hinted as a born-again Christian, as she holds or attends prayer meetings, and describes Tomas as "born-against," because of his sinful ways. Even in the realm of weapons, Barbie outguns her husband. Tomas is usually portrayed with his service pistol while Barbie often has an Uzi. Recently, Barbie was pregnant and born twin boys, which Tomas wanted to reach out for his friends for names, rejecting Noli's name Carl and Marcus, names made from Karl Marx.

The Lamouns

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. The surname was spelled "Lamon" at first.

Bab (Roberto Lamoun) – the resident true-blue hippie who is lazy and unemployed, although he sometimes moonlights as a folk singer and part-time PE teacher at Utoy, Paltik, and Joma's school. He is also unlucky in love, especially with Tiny, who was once his girlfriend for only two seconds. He has applied for and held many jobs over the years, but these never get off the ground. His job undertakings are described as "first-day, last-day" as he is often fired on his first day at work. Bab is usually referred by the rest of the community as a bad example and an occasional drug addict. When a story focuses on his addiction, he is said to be "using" marijuana (though one never actually sees him "using" the drug) and is sometimes seen with several marijuana leaves in his possession. Bab has also gotten himself infected with gonorrhea (shown in a minor arc in Pugad Baboy 19) and other sexually transmitted diseases on occasion. At the end of The Returnee story arc, the Tangeres lend Bab money so he can start his own artisanal bakery.

Jolen (Joanne Elena Lamoun) – Bab's much younger sister. She is more intelligent than Bab (or at least more diligent), and is often reminded by their mother never to follow in her brother's footsteps, despite the many realities her brother himself imparts to her. She is also Utoy's girlfriend and often goes out with him, though they are both only eight to nine years old. She has a speech impediment as she pronounces her k's and s's as t's. However, this only manifests itself while she is singing. Jolen or holen is the Filipino term for marbles.

Tita Cel (Cecilia Lamoun) – Bab and Jolen's mother. She disapproves of her son and dotes on her daughter. She despises Bab's smoking vice, as this led to the death of her husband (Rodrigo Lamoun, as mentioned in Pugad Baboy XI). She has no qualms in hiding her disappointment of her near-useless son and states it outright, as seen in Pugad Baboy X.

Daddy (Rodrigo Lamoun) – Bab and Jolen's late father, and Tita Cel's husband. In one strip, it is mentioned that he died of lung cancer while working as a rabbit farmer in Tagaytay. Hence how he is used as a scare tactic by Tita Cel whenever she catches her son smoking, to no avail. It is also mentioned in one arc by Polgas (posing as Dr. Sigmund Floyd) that Bab's only fear is his father.

The Tangeres

Ka Noli (Nolasco M. Tangere) – the resident communist who is a proud member of the New People's Army. While he believes in the merits of communism and calls most of the other residents capitalists, not only does he manage to have drinking sessions with them, but he is also very good friends with them. Tomas, a natural enemy, is his best friend. Ironically, Medina says he and his son enjoy playing Monopoly. As time went on, his espousing of his beliefs occurred less and less frequently to the point of readers being reminded that he is of the NPA only in the most subtle of situations. As such, jokes about his Ilocano heritage and the mountain-based lifestyle that comes of being in the NPA are often cracked at his expense instead. Because of him, Tomas is able to find allies in the NPA whenever the need arises, such as in Retraining, though not always. His name is derived from the title of Noli Me Tangere, the first novel of the Philippine national hero, Jose Rizal. Recent strips have shown that Ka Noli and his wife Ka Beza had officially defected from the New People's Army, as of Pugad Baboy: The Returnee 122, updated November 29, 2016, at Rappler.com. They started their own farm beside Tomas' new training facility, specializing in exotic animals. Because they still hold socialist beliefs, they also lend money to other Pugad Baboy residents such as Dagul and Bab, so that their business benefits their neighbors and friends as well.

Joma (Jose Maria Tangere) – Ka Noli and Ka Beza's eldest son. While he is aware of his father's beliefs, he hangs out with Utoy and Paltik often and attends the same school they do. He is named after Jose Maria "Joma" Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Ka Beza (Bezalie Tangere), Ka Noli's wife, who appears to have an "allergic reaction to soldiers," resulting in Tomas being her target practice whenever she's around. Just like her husband Nolasco, she had also defected from the New People's Army (as of Pugad Baboy: The Returnee 122, updated November 29, 2016, at Rappler.com.) Her name "Ka Beza", is a reference to the word Cabeza, which means, "The head of a small town/county or barangay".

Melo (Marx Engels Tangere), Ka Noli and Ka Beza's infant son. His name is a reference to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, co-authors of the Communist Manifesto.

The Tangs

Mao (Mauricio Tang) – the resident Chinese-Filipino who hails from Fujian Province and owns a sari-sari store (a small retail store) in Pugad Baboy. He often believes in business sense, earning money and he sometimes brandishes a sword on whoever earns his ire, especially those who do not pay their dues. His name is play on ma-utang, which in Tagalog, translates roughly to "one who likes to borrow money."

Pao (Paulino Tang) – the resident homosexual and Mao's son. A friend of Tiny, his tastes and attitude are typically gay. This even caused him trouble once when he was mistaken for a pregnant woman by a horde of monsters and he did not want to admit his real gender. His father once expressed disappointment over him as he remarked that Pao has a resemblance to basketball player "Gelli Codiñela." He also owns a beauty parlor and works his way through college at the same time. His name is a play on pa-utang, which, in Tagalog, translates roughly to "Can I borrow some money?". It is mentioned in one arc that he has a brother named "Jong" (Ji Ong) who works in Taiwan.

Coleen (Anne Coleen Tang) - Introduced to the strip in January 2013, Coleen is Pao's sister that stayed and studied in China. She is the opposite of Pao in some aspects, being a lesbian and possessing a very athletic body due to her vegetarianism. As evidenced in her exchanges with Father Marty, she's also an atheist. Her full name is a play of the Tagalog Phrase Ang Kulintang, "The Kulintang" (an indigenous musical instrument of the Maguindanao, Philippines).

Jong (Jong Tang) - Mao's other son and Pao and Coleen's brother. He resides in Taiwan and was introduced during Pugad Baboy 11 when he pays his family in the Philippines a visit. Like his father, he's a clever and cunning businessman.

The Cabalfins

Senator Cabalfin (Sen. Usurpo Cabalfin) – the resident member of the Philippine Senate. He is seen more playing children's games and spending people's taxes on his own indulgences rather than doing his job as a legislator. He is created by Medina as a reflection of corrupt government officials. His personal name Usurpo is derived from the word usurp. Cabalfin once served as the prime antagonist in the Conspigracy arc.

Madame Cabalfin (Diana Elizabeth Cabalfin), Senator Cabalfin's equally corrupt wife (based on Imelda Marcos).

Bong (Enrique Noel Cabalfin), Senator and Madame Cabalfin's son and Sen. Cabalfin's only legitimate child, who is not really part of the inner circle of the other four kids.

Other characters

Joboy (Joey Boy Llabe) – the resident mechanic who has a knack for cars and often likes to drive fast (in fact, he is a speed maniac). His last name is the Filipino word for wrench, from the Spanish llave. Formerly the fattest resident of Pugad Baboy but due to acquiring Diabetes, his diet had reduced his weight significantly.

Father Marty (Fr. Mario Martinez), the town Priest and Bab's priest-friend, he studied canon law at the Vatican before moving back to Pugad Baboy.

Tata Mads (Amado Pascala) – the resident musician who once taught Tiny voice lessons and sometimes comes to Dagul to comment on his awful singing. His name is a play on tamad ("lazy") due to the seemingly easy-going lifestyle of musicians and other people in the field of creative arts; though his appearances in the strip have decreased over the years, he does not appear to be truly lazy.

Doc Sebo (Miguel Sebo, MD) – the resident physician who specializes in circumcision, but is generally shown to be weak and incompetent in anything else in his profession. In early strips, he prescribes only one kind of medicine – aspirin. Sebo is Tagalog for congealed fat or solidified lard.

Miss Nobatos (Eusebia Nobatos) – Utoy, Paltik, Joma, and Jolen's teacher. She often rages at Paltik for his jokes and actions, particularly when he refers to her as a horse, and takes too many doses of aspirin because of him and any other shenanigans her other students cause. Her name is a play on the Spanish term novatos, meaning "new race horse."

Patrolman Durugas (PFC Romeo Durugas) – a police officer who often apprehends drivers mostly for no apparent reason and receives bribes from them. Dagul happens to be one of those disgruntled motorists. He is created by Medina based on the Filipinos' general view on policemen as corrupt. In Tagalog, mandurugas means "one who cheats".

Recurring minor characters

There are also recurring characters in the strip, including:

Barbie's mother (unnamed), the stereotypical mother-in-law for Tomas from Parañaque who rues about death and her home city's water problem;

Dagul's mother (Brenda), an ironically thin yet overly concerned woman;

Boy Bura and Boy Tibar (real names never mentioned), bodyguards of the Cabalfin family;

Lucio (last name never mentioned), Sen. Cabalfin's accountant;

Attorney Adriano (first name never mentioned), the fiscal;

Doctor Rosa, a dentist who scares her patient with a pair of dental pliers whenever she gets agitated or teased by the characters;

"Principal Schwarzenegger" (Arnold Palacio), the ugly school principal who is as exasperated as Miss Nobatos when it comes to seeing Paltik in his office;

Nadir Hamid Mohammad, Kules's employer and is the subject of many smelly jokes as part of the Filipino stereotypical view that Arabs are foul-smelling;

Jacques Vousvoulez, Dagul's French employer and the head chef of the hotel where Dagul works. His name is a French stylization of "bubuli", the Filipino word for skink. It was revealed by Debbie that his wife's name is Fifi;

Rosanna (last name not mentioned), a buxom local mestiza, who as part of a running gag, is a frequent victim of coconut thieves (often Bab, Tomas and Igno) but not before being viewed naked by these thieves through her window. Her character and name are based on the sexy Filipina actress, Rosanna Roces;

Stylistic elements

British English words are prevalent in the strip (like -ise words) and Medina uses these kinds of words in his own write-ups.

Age

The characters are typically ageless, and their actual ages are usually vague. The few characters whose present ages are stated are Dagul (48), and the kids (8 or 9). Utoy and 'Adre are the only characters to have visibly aged in the strip through the years, barring flashbacks (Utoy first appeared as a baby; 'Adre has lately lost some of his hair). A "holdover hippie" from the 1960s, Bab nevertheless seems to be only in his twenties or thirties, which would be impossible in real life. 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). A series of strips published in Pugad Baboy X (1998) implies that Bab is at least over 28 years old. In the same compilation, Tita Cel mentions that Jolen is 27 years younger than Bab and since the stock age of the Pugad Baboy children is 8–9, Bab is possibly 35–36. The first volume of the Polgas Comics collections has a story called "Class Reunion" illustrated by Jerald Dorado which has Bab attending an elementary class reunion for the 'Batch of 1969' which further enforces this view of his age.

Recurring jokes

One of the strip's running gags is the depiction (or at least the description) of Arabs having very foul body odor. 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. This running gag is likely based on the author's personal experience. It is also reasonable, considering that the desert atmosphere in most Arab countries prevents their people from taking daily baths.

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. And stereotyped Iraqis are seen in earlier works.

Authorial presence

Medina usually voices out his takes on events, people and the like through Polgas and Mang Dagul. (Polgas is also recurringly shown as a comic strip artist, like his creator.) According to Medina, the characters he most identifies with are Polgas, Mang Dagul, and Utoy; like him, they wear earrings on their left ears. Medina himself has even appeared once in the strip proper, holding a cartooning workshop in Palawan, though he avoids breaking the fourth wall by not referring to himself as the strip's creator.

Major story arcs

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.

There is no standard as how long a story arc may last, since it can run from several weeks to a few months. The story arc is only titled when it is included in a compilation.

This list below contains named story arcs that last at least 15 strips long and which compilation each appears.

Bakasyon (15 strips, The Best of Pugad Baboy) - The gang's vacation in La Union is rudely interrupted by Taokoy (mermen).

Baboy Scouts (24 strips, Pugad Baboy 3) - The kids go on a camping trip with their Scoutmaster, and are captured by a band of Amazons who want the Scoutmaster to impregnate their queen!

Wisedog (17 strips, Pugad Baboy 3) - Polgas, alias Wisedog, investigates a series of pet dog disappearances.

The Baguio Connection (51 strips, Pugad Baboy 3) - Kules, Tomas, Noli, Bab, Joboy and Pao, plus Wisedog, investigate ube jam spiked with cannabias sativa in Baguio.

Retraining (45 strips, Pugad Baboy 4) - Tomas is sent for retraining, and soon becomes involved in stopping a ring that sells children to gay pedophiles

The Malunggay Conflict (30 strips, Pugad Baboy 4) - in Ilocos, the gang must help Ka Kwate fight off the attempted annexation of his land by Ka Damuseyn (parody of the First Gulf War).

Ang Hiwaga ng Dueñas (52 strips, Pugad Baboy 4) - the gang's vacation in Dueñas turns into a rescue mission when Pao is mistaken for a pregnant woman, and kidnapped by supernatural beings to use as a human sacrifice.

Books and merchandise

The first compilation of Pugad Baboy comic strips was originally part of a thesis by Frank Aldana, a student of De La Salle University. This compilation became so popular that Medina himself made more. Typically, a new compilation is released near the start of each year. Including Aldana's compilation, there are currently 34 Pugad Baboy compilation books:

Pugad Baboy One (originally, The Very Best of Pugad Baboy)

The Best of Pugad Baboy (officially, this is the second compilation)

Pugad Baboy 3

Pugad Baboy 4

PB5 (Pugad Baboy 5)

Pugad Baboy 6

Pugad Baboy 7

pugad baboy eight

Pugad baboy 9

Pugad Baboy X (commemorating the tenth anniversary of the comic strip)

Pugad Baboy XI

Pugad Baboy XII

PB the 13th (Pugad Baboy 13)

Katorse (Pugad Baboy 14)

Kinse! (Pugad Baboy 15)

Disi-Sais! (Pugad Baboy 16)

17 (Pugad Baboy 17)

18 eighteen (Pugad Baboy 18)

Pugad Baboy Sunday Comics (first one in full color)