Apo Hikers 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 62 strips long. In 1999, the story arc was reprinted in Pugad Baboy XI, the eleventh book compilation of the comic strip series.

Synopsis

The story arc begins in Kidapawan, South Cotabato

South Cotabato

South Cotabato is a province of the Philippines located in the SOCCSKSARGEN region in Mindanao. Its capital is Koronadal City, and it borders Sultan Kudarat to the north and west, Sarangani to the south and east, and Davao del Sur to the east...

, which sits at the foot of Mount Apo

Mount Apo

Mount Apo is a large solfataric, potentially-active stratovolcano in the island of Mindanao, Philippines. With an altitude of , it is the highest mountain in the country and is located between Davao City and Davao del Sur province in Region XI and Cotabato province in Region XII...

, the highest mountain peak in the Philippines. Staff monitoring the volcano

Volcano

2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...

 are alarmed when they feel tremors shaking the station. Thinking that Mount Apo is about to erupt, they report to their superior who reassures them, saying that the tremors they are experiencing are caused by the residents of Pugad Baboy, who are on a hiking trip up the mountain.

The hike

The Pugad Baboy gang are well-prepared to hike up the mountain slopes: Tomas is in charge of the first aid

First aid

First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...

 kit, Ka Noli has the emergency radio, Polgas has the survival gear, Bab has the thermal wear and most importantly, Dagul has the food provisions. They also have the services of a guide, Mel, who gives them a few survival tips, such as falling on one's back so that the backpack absorbs the impact of the fall. Mel also has a pet Bobcat

Bobcat

The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...

 who accompanies the party as they hike up the mountain.

The hiking party soon reach Lake Agko, the waters of which are hazy with steam from the volcano. Mel reminds them that it is not possible to swim in its waters. As they reach the Marbel River, Mel informs them that at this point, warm and cool waters meet, and being sulphuric in nature, the water is good for the skin. Polgas soon hears rushing water and opines that there must be a waterfall near their location. Mel confirms this and tells them that they will be passing by the waterfall when they return from the peak. At 8,000 feet from sea level, they reach Lake Venado

Lake Venado

Lake Venado is an endorheic lake located at the foot of Mount Apo in the province of North Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines. It is the highest lake in the country, found in coordinates 7°00′8″N 125°16′10″E, with an estimated surface elevation of 7,200 feet . The lake is fed by local run-off and...

. Night soon falls and the party sets up camp. In the morning, they prepare for a three-hour hike to the mountain's peak. At 10, 311 feet, they reach one of the eight peaks of Mount Apo. Mel shows them the volcano's old crater, which is filled with blueberry

Blueberry

Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...

 bushes. Mel also points out a protusion called Anak ni Apo (Filipino

Filipino language

This move has drawn much criticism from other regional groups.In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language.Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:...

 for Son of Apo), probably a part of the volcano under of which is an active magma

Magma

Magma is a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and is expected to exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and dissolved gas and sometimes also gas bubbles. Magma often collects in...

 vein. Returning from the peak, the gang discovers that their food provisions are all gone, and Mel, who has been trained by the Manobo tribesmen in survival tactics, takes it upon himself to forage for food. He finds some young fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...

 leaves and makes a salad out of it. Bobcat catches a deer and turns the meat into native jerky

Jerky (food)

Jerky is lean meat that has been trimmed of fat, cut into strips, and then been dried to prevent spoilage. Normally, this drying includes the addition of salt, to prevent bacteria from developing on the meat before sufficient moisture has been removed. The word "jerky" is a bastardization of the...

. After the meal, they resume their trek down the mountain.

Illegal loggers

Soon they reach the waterfall

Waterfall

A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...

 Polgas heard they previous day. Noli and Tomas discover that there is a cave

Cave

A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...

 behind the waterfall; they decide to explore it. As it was dark inside the cave, the pair blundered and fell into a deep pit inside the cave. They slid down until they emerged at an exit at the other side of the mountain. Concerned for the safety of Tomas and Noli, Polgas went after the pair, leaving the rest of the hiking party. After he was gone, two goons from an illegal logging

Illegal logging

Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission or from a protected area; the cutting of protected species; or the...

 operation in the area took Mel, Bab, Dagul and Pao hostage. It is soon revealed that the illegal loggers were floating the purloined logs down the river and a hidden drawbridge under the waterfall caught and channeled the logs and water into the cave Tomas, Noli and Polgas went into. The goons also reveal that there are only eight of them, but that they had thirty manobo tribesmen working for them; the tribesmen's families were their hostages as well.

As Polgas reached the spot where Tomas and Noli fell, he was surprised by the water and logs that had been channeled into the cave. He rode the flood out and emerged in the same spot where Tomas and Noli had finally fallen, using his backpack as a makeshift parachute

Parachute

A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...

. Meanwhile, Bobcat managed to disarm the two goons holding the rest of the gang hostage. The two separated groups were soon able to communicate with each other using Mel's cellular phone and Polgas' garapata gun (which has a built-in satellite phone

Satellite phone

A satellite telephone, satellite phone, or satphone is a type of mobile phone that connects to orbiting satellites instead of terrestrial cell sites...

). Mel relates the story regarding the hostaged Manobo's families and they come up with a plan to rescue them. As Mel was about to call the armed forces in Kidapawan, two more members of the illegal loggers' gang attempted to subdue them, however, Dagul, Bab and Pao managed to disarm the these goons as well. The Manobos, however, pursued the Pugad Baboy gang, who fled even though they were now armed with the illegal loggers' weapons, since they did not wish to harm the native tribesmen who were simply pressed into service for fear of their families' lives.

Dobermaxx makes an appearance

Meanwhile, Polgas, Tomas and Noli have located the Manobo village where the tribesmen's families were being held hostage. Polgas changes into his Dobermaxx persona and deploys Gary, his fleabot, who functions as a spotter and scout. With Gary's help, Dobermaxx soon determines the there were three goons guarding the Manobos' families, one at the well, one in the latrine and the last up in a tree near Gary's position. They planned to disable the three goons simultaneously; Noli would take care of the goon near the well, Tomas the one in the latrine and Dobermaxx the last up in the tree. They did this successfully with Gary giving the signal to attack.

Having disarmed the three goons, Dobermaxx calls Mel; Mel and the rest of the Pugad Baboy gang are up in the trees, hiding from the Manobo tribesmen. Dobermaxx explains that to make the tribesmen believe that their families were now safe, he was going to take a video of the village and the women and children. He was then going to upload this video into Mel's website and Mel was to show the Manobos the video using his laptop

Laptop

A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...

. Tomas suggests that it would be better to show the tribesmen's mothers-in-law as well. The plan works; the Manobos see that their families are safe and to their utmost joy, that their mothers-in-law now seem imprisoned in the little black box (Mel's laptop). Mel calls the Kidapawan police, who immediately set out for the slopes of the mountain to place the goons under arrest.

Hostaged Philippine eagles

The goons' leader, however, makes an appearance with his own hostages - Philippine Eagle

Philippine Eagle

The Philippine Eagle , also known as the Monkey-eating Eagle, is an eagle of the family Accipitridae that is endemic to forests in the Philippines. It has brown and white-coloured plumage, and a shaggy crest, and generally measures in length and weighs...

s named Pete and Jeffrey. He warns the Pugad Baboy gang that if they come thin fifty meters, he was going to stab the eagles with the arrows he was holding. Dagul asks for Mel's phone and tells Dobermaxx of the situation. Dobermaxx suspects that the goons' leader would pass his way as he attempted to escape. He tells Dagul to hold the phone to Bobcat's ear as he had a plan. He retrieves Gary and waits in an ambush position for the eagle poaching leader. He soon spots the villain. He also sees that Bobcat was now in position for their plan to work. He fires Gary from his wrist-spitter; Gary lands on one of the eagle's cages. The fleabot begins to distract the poacher. The villain thinking that one of the eagles is talking, stops in his tracks. Dobermaxx swings from a tree and grabs Bobcat. Bobcat unsheathes his claws and as they pass over the eagle cages being carried by the poacher, slashes the top of the cages open. The eagles, finding themselves free, spread their wings and escaped. The leader now finds himself with no hostages to bargain with. In desperation, he warns the Pugad Baboy gang not to come near or he was going to strangle himself; later he threatens to jump off a cliff. Bab actually pushes him over. At the bottom of the cliff, Dobermaxx asks Bobcat to shave the poacher's moustache off. Dobermaxx then recognizes his arch-enemy, Atong Damuho. The Kidapawan police arrive and take the goons off to prison.

Epilogue

Polgas and the rest of the gang visit the Philippine Eagle Nature Center, where they get the news that the equipment left by the illegal loggers at the waterfall had now been dismantled and that Pete and Jeffrey were doing well. Mel sees that the hikers were ready for the trip home; their backpacks were full again. Dagul explains that these contained gifts for the family back home - fruits such as marang, mangosteen

Mangosteen

The purple mangosteen , colloquially known simply as mangosteen, is a tropical evergreen tree believed to have originated in the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas of Indonesia. The tree grows from 7 to 25 m tall...

, durian

Durian

The durian is the fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus Durio and the Malvaceae family . Widely known and revered in southeast Asia as the "king of fruits", the durian is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk...

, suha (pomelo

Pomelo

The pomelo is a citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia. It is usually pale green to yellow when ripe, with sweet white flesh and very thick albedo . It is the largest citrus fruit, 15–25 cm in diameter, and usually weighing 1–2 kg...

) and rambutan

Rambutan

The rambutan is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae, and the fruit of this tree. It is native to Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, although its precise natural distribution is unknown. It is closely related to several...

. Tomas has waling-waling

Vanda (orchid)

Vanda is a genus in the orchid family which, although not large , is one of the most important florally.- Description :...

orchid roots for his wife. Bab mentions that he has bariles for pulutan; fish parts such as roe, jaw and tail. The rest of the gang tell him that those items were not permitted on board the plane and that they'd better eat it right there and then (with a generous serving of beer, of course). During the drinking session, Polgas has everyone pose for a group picture with Mount Apo in the background, with Gary clicking the shutter.