'Pugad Baboy' moves to a new home

After the resignation of Pol Medina Jr., creator of popular comic strip "Pugad Baboy," the 25-year-run in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) ends, well at least in one of the country's influential broadsheets.

It started when Inquirer suspended the publication of "Pugad Baboy" from its Comics section after a controversial strip which criticized the supposed hypocrisy of Christians over the issue of homosexuality, became a talk-of-the-town and raised criticisms from netizens.

The strip, published on June 4, depicted two characters talking about the toleration of gays and lesbians in a Catholic all-girls schools. The last panel of the strip went on to St. Scholastica's College, a Catholic institution for women managed by the missionary Benedictine sisters.

The management of St. Scholastica's College sent a letter to Inquirer saying they will file a lawsuit against PDI if it does not do anything about the issue.

Inquirer eventually suspended Pol Medina Jr. and his "Pugad Baboy" comic strip and on June 7, Medina Jr. resigned. In an interview, he said his resignation was the "ultimate expression of regret."

New home

Polgas, Pol Medina Jr.'s alter ego, uploaded on its Facebook page a strip last June 11, saying "Akala 'nyo patay na 'ko, 'no?"

On June 12, Independence Day, Polgas did a Han Solo and broke free from his carbonite block, depicting he could no longer be confined with the limitations of the print medium.

On Saturday, the dog's paw print appeared on social media bearing the familiar shade of orange on Rappler.com's bubble.

On Sunday, social news network Rappler.com officially welcomed Polgas and the rest of the overweight clever gang to their new home. Starting Monday, June 17, the strip will now be called #PugadBaboy, the web comic.

#PugadBaboy will be posted Mondays to Saturdays at 5 a.m. on the Rappler site.

"Click on the first frame, which will appear on Rappler's home page, and you will be led to a page where you won’t only read the full comic strip, you'll get to choose which last frame or punchline you like best," Rappler said.

"It's you. Collaborating with PMJr on #PugadBaboy. Every day," it added.

As seen on Reyn's Room

Posted in: Entertainment,Pol Medina Jr.,Pugad Baboy,Rappler