Dogs are surprisingly prominent in the Philippines and in the country’s popular culture. However, perhaps the most renowned out of all canine characters in Filipino pop culture is Polgas, from the classic Filipino comic strip entitled Pugad Baboy.

Created by Apolonio “Pol” Medina, Jr., a Filipino cartoonist, Pugad Baboy focuses on the life of the primarily-obese community in Manila, mainly centered on the life of the Sungcal family. When translated, Pugad Baboy means “swine’s nest”. The strip focuses not only on the everyday life of the characters but also features some comedy, adventure and drama. The comic strip also represents the opinions of the Filipino nation towards certain pressing issues in the country such as corruption. In fact, political satire is frequently inserted into the story arcs of the strip.  

One of the primary characters (and perhaps the most well-known one) in Pugad Baboy is Polgas, an anthropomorphic dog who is the family pet of the Sungcals. Known as “ang asong hindi” (which literally means “the dog who isn’t”) because of his human-like qualities, Polgas is more of a family member than a pet. In fact, he serves as his owner Dagul’s constant drinking companion. In some story arcs, however, Polgas still acts as a regular dog, sometimes taking a leak, or biting people.

The name Polgas is derived from the Tagalog word “pulgas”, which means “flea”. In the first few strips of Pugad Baboy, Polgas was made out to be a normal dog who is dressed up in shirts. As the strip progressed, however, Medina decided to give Polgas more human-like qualities, such as walking on two feet and being able to speak. This sudden change in Polgas is said to be due to the consumption of an exotic rice cake (known as “bibingka” in the Philippines) and radiation exposure from watching of too much television.

Over time, Polgas became more and more important, with several storylines depicting him as an action hero who often saves several human characters from trouble. He even became an agent for the Organized Canine Bureau, a fictional agency in the Pugad Baboy strip that was formed in order to prevent the stealing of stray dogs to be sold for meat within Metro Manila. His agent name was initially “Wisedog” but he eventually adopted the moniker “Dobermaxx”.

Apart from his Wisedog/Dobermaxx persona, Polgas has also adopted other personalities such as Amorsolo, Darth Paul, Polverine, Dr. Sigmund Floyd and several other aliases based on various characters. To date, Polgas remains to be a timeless canine character in Filipino pop culture.