One of the defining points of Philippine pop culture today is Pugad Baboy. Often compared to Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury, the satirical comic strip reflects the Filipino sentiment on topics relevant in everyday life - from pop culture to politics. No wonder it is remains so popular after 20 years in printing.

The hand and mind behind the comics is a former architect known as Pol Medina Jr., or simply PM Jr. Born on April 6, 1960, he graduated from the University of Santo Tomas in 1983 with a degree in Architecture.

In 1985, a year after obtaining his professional license, he was employed by an Italian construction company and went to work on a project near a holy city in Iraq, this at the height of the Iran-Iraq war. Medina stayed there for a couple of years, which he says were the “most maddening” two years in his life. However, it proved to be a fruitful experience, since it was during that time that the seeds of Pugad Baboy were planted. As early as 1986, he was already drawing sketches for a talking dog called Polgas in a community of stout denizens.

Medina returned to the Philippines in 1987 and attempted to set up an architectural practice, but it quickly folded. He also tried raising a pig farm in Cavite, but this, too, failed when it suffered a strong typhoon.

It was in 1988 that he decided to put together his comic sketches and try his luck in the local papers. His original intention had been to submit them to the Manila Bulletin, but when he went to Intramuros to seek its office, he found himself at that of the Philippine Daily Inquirer instead. And so, on May 18, 1988, the first Pugad Baboy comic strip was lauched in the PDI cartoon page.

Pugad Baboy, which translates to “Nest of Pigs,” got its name from a real village in Bulacan notorious for its piggeries. Medina admits that the characters in the strip are caricatures of true-to-life people and that he picks up ideas for his stories just about everywhere. With a keen eye for detail and witty observation, he can finish an episode in three hours and often works straight into the night. Though he often tackles hot issues, he claims to be a centrist who isn't likely to take sides.

Along with seven others, Medina co-founded Pugad Baboy, Inc. in September 1992. The company folded three years later when he left to pursue advertising. However, he now has another company called Pol Medina Jr. Novelties, which carries merchandise based on the strip, including the comic book compilations, the first of which was originally part of a thesis by Frank Aldana, a student of De La Salle University. To date, Medina has published 20 volumes of Pugad Baboy.