Ang Hiwaga ng Dueñas
Encyclopedia
Ang Hiwaga ng Dueñas is an adventure story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...

 of the Philippine comic strip series Pugad Baboy
Pugad Baboy
Pugad Baboy is a comic strip created by Filipino cartoonist Apolonio "Pol" Medina, Jr. The strip is about a Manila community of mostly obese people - "fat as pigs", so to speak ....

, created by Pol Medina Jr. and originally published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
Philippine Daily Inquirer
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, popularly known as the Inquirer, is the most widely read broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines, with a daily circulation of 260,000 copies. It is one of the Philippines' newspapers of record...

. This particular story arc lasts 52 strips long and ran during the first quarter of 1992. In 1993, the story arc was reprinted in Pugad Baboy 4, the fourth book compilation of the comic strip series.

Synopsis

The Pugad Baboy residents go off on vacation
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

 to Dueñas
Dueñas, Iloilo
Dueñas is a 4th class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 30,882 people in 5,850 households.-History:...

 in Iloilo
Iloilo
Iloilo is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Iloilo occupies the southeast portion of Panay Island and is bordered by Antique Province to the west and Capiz Province and the Jintotolo Channel to the north. Just off Iloilo's southeast coast is Guimaras Province,...

. There, Bab introduces them to their host, Mang Danilo, a faith healer
Faith Healer
Faith Healer is a play by Brian Friel about the life of faith healer Francis Hardy as monologued through the shifting memories of Hardy, his wife, Grace, and stage manager, Teddy.-Synopsis:...

 who had once cured Bab off his dependence on drugs. Their adventures soon go from the innocent (having their futures revealed by a fortune teller and getting served herbal tea in a beer house) to the macabre (a guest relations girl turns out to be a manananggal
Manananggal
The manananggal is a mythical creature of the Philippines. It resembles a Western vampire, in being an evil, man-eating monster or witch. The myth of the manananggal is popular in the Visayan region of the Philippines, especially in the western provinces of Capiz, Iloilo, and Antique...

, a kapre
Kapre
Kapre is a Philippine mythical creature that could be characterized as a tree demon, but with more human characteristics. It is described as being a tall , brown, hairy male with a beard. Kapres are normally described as smoking a big tobacco pipe, whose strong smell would attract human attention...

asks Mang Dagul for a light and even the Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...

's Count von Count
Count von Count
Count von Count, often known simply as "The Count", is one of the Muppet characters on Sesame Street, performed by Jerry Nelson. The Count is a vampire modeled after Bela Lugosi's interpretation of Count Dracula.-Description:...

 makes an appearance).

One night, supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...

 beings make a determined siege upon the house occupied by the Pugad Baboy gang. Polgas comes to the rescue in the guise of Growlsbuster (a spoof of the Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...

). Using garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...

 in various forms (pills, powder and even garlic-flavored pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...

), Growlsbuster repels the attack. The demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...

s, witches and vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...

s retreat, but Polgas isn't content; he continues bombarding with garlic until the whole house began to smell like an Italian's
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 breath.

In the confusion, the gang mislook the fact that one of their number is left outside the house, unprotected by the garlic - Pao is exchanging gossip with a "white lady" (a female ghost). Werewolves
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...

 then take him captive, mistaking him for a pregnant woman. Perceiving that it is beyond Growlsbuster's skills to mount a rescue attempt, Polgas retires the guise and takes on his Wisedog persona. As Wisedog, he disguises himself further to resemble a werewolf, becoming Weredog.

Weredog infiltrates the werewolves' lair in the mountains, discovering that Devlino, the king of the supernatural beings, intends to sacrifice Pao at the stroke of midnight and that the "fetus" in his "womb" will become the main ingredient for the super-special batchoy
Batchoy
Batchoy is a noodle soup made with pork organs, crushed pork cracklings, shrimp, vegetables, chicken stock, chicken breast, beef loin and round noodles. Its origins can be traced to the district of La Paz, Iloilo City in the Philippines, hence it is oftentimes referred to as La Paz...

 the werewolves are preparing. Devlino, however, sees through Weredog's disguise, setting the werewolves on him. Weredog holds his own, but eventually succumbs when he accidentally smells the armpit of one of the werewolves; his excellent sense of smell is overpowered and he is rendered unconscious. Mang Danilo arrives in the nick of time and rescues Polgas. Both return to Dueñas.

Polgas recruits the Pugad Baboy residents in order to rescue Pao. They go to confession
Confession
This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...

 and made slingshot
Slingshot
A slingshot, shanghai, flip, bean shooter or catapult is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame held in the off hand, with two rubber strips attached to the uprights. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket which holds the projectile...

s using barbecue sticks and silverware as ammo. Polgas refills his "garapata gun" with holy water
Holy water
Holy water is water that, in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and some other churches, has been sanctified by a priest for the purpose of baptism, the blessing of persons, places, and objects; or as a means of repelling evil.The use for baptism and...

 from the church font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...

 (werewolves are immune to fleas since they are canine themselves). Eight minutes before midnight, the rescue squad attack the supernatural beings' lair. Every demon and werewolf hit by stick and silverware disappears into smoky nothingness, while to the demons' surprise, the Pugad Baboy gang seem unaffected by claw or fang. Four minutes to midnight, Devlino runs away with Pao; Polgas gives chase but is temporarily delayed by zombies blocking his way. Using the jawbone of a horse as a boomerang
Boomerang
A boomerang is a flying tool with a curved shape used as a weapon or for sport.-Description:A boomerang is usually thought of as a wooden device, although historically boomerang-like devices have also been made from bones. Modern boomerangs used for sport are often made from carbon fibre-reinforced...

, Polgas destroys the sacrificial knife wielded by Devlino, who unmasked, turns out to be no other than their host, Mang Danilo.

Lady Lucy (Lucifer
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...

) appears, revealing that he/she is the source of Devlino/Danilo's power. As punishment for his failure as the king of evil in Iloilo, Lady Lucy turns him into a poisonous mushroom
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...

. Lady Lucy then disappears. The Pugad Baboy residents then return to Dueñas, having successfully rescued Pao.

Miscellaneous trivia

  • Aside from Count von Count, who is seen counting the five hairs Pao pulled from his armpit, Darna
    Darna
    Darna is a fictional character and Filipino comics superheroine created by writer Mars Ravelo and artist Nestor Redondo. In her more popular incarnations, she is a deceased warrior from another planet manifesting herself through a girl from Earth, named Narda...

    's arch-nemesis Valentina
    Valentina (Darna)
    In the Filipino comic book Darna, Valentina is Darna's arch-enemy. She is a snake goddess. In the Darna 2005 TV series, Valentina is Braguda's lady-in-waiting and is played by actress Alessandra de Rossi. Narda and Valentina are also cousins, but in the latter they found out that they are twins....

     makes an appearance among the numerous ghouls who invade the hut. When Growlsbuster faces the gorgon
    Gorgon
    In Greek mythology, the Gorgon was a terrifying female creature. The name derives from the Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful." While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a...

    , he casually asks her why she didn't win the Best Supporting Actress award in the Metro Manila Film Festival
    Metro Manila Film Festival
    upright|thumb|320px|Metro Manila Film Festival Official LogoThe Metro Manila Film Festival-Philippines is the annual film festival held in Manila...

     (referring to her character played by Pilar Pilapil in the 1991 movie Darna). After that, he cheers her up, saying it is February, because "it's your month, bebe!" (a pun on Valentine's Day
    Valentine's Day
    Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...

    ). The above quote also implies that the story arc was published during the month of February, 1992. She disappears from the scene afterwards, presumably being driven away by the garlic.
  • Dagul being served with the medicinal herbal tea "pitu-pito" is actually a play of words. The waiter serves him the drink instead of the cocktail drink "Seventy-seven" ("pito" is Filipino for "seven").
  • Like some story arcs, this one includes an instance wherein the fourth wall is broken
    Fourth wall
    The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...

    . An unseen narrator mentions that Wisedog follows the scent of Pao's perfume and marks the trees along his path. However, at this point, Wisedog's nose is on the ground and he attempts to mark the nearest tree in true canine
    Canidae
    Canidae is the biological family of carnivorous and omnivorous mammals that includes wolves, foxes, jackals, coyotes, and domestic dogs. A member of this family is called a canid . The Canidae family is divided into two tribes: Canini and Vulpini...

     fashion—by lifting a hind leg and spraying it with urine. The narrator has to clear his throat twice to grab Wisedog's attention (apparently in order to alert Wisedog to the fact that this is not acceptable behavior for an OCB agent) so the agent can mark the nearest tree as he supposed to—by chalk
    Chalk
    Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....

    ing an x-mark on the tree.
  • The "sacred cloth" that Mang Danilo uses to rescue Polgas, as Weredog, from the werewolves turns out to be nothing more than an ordinary piece of cloth. However, it is emblazoned with certain text that terribly frightens even Polgas: "DANDING FOR THE COUNTRY!!!". Danding is the nickname of Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., one of the cronies of former president Ferdinand Marcos
    Ferdinand Marcos
    Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...

     during the Martial Law era.
  • Fido Dido
    Fido Dido
    Fido Dido is a cartoon character created by Joanna Ferrone and Sue Rose. Rose first developed the character in 1985 on a napkin in a restaurant.They later stenciled Fido on T-shirts with the credo: "Fido is for Fido, Fido is against no one"...

    can be seen among the zombies that block Wisedog from pursuing Devlino.
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