Benigno Ramos: Bounty Hunter
Encyclopedia
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
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
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.
Pol Medina, Jr.
Apolonio "Pol" Medina, Jr. is a Filipino cartoonist best known for creating Pugad Baboy, a black-and-white comic strip first published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on May 18, 1988.-Biography:...
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...
from July to October 2005. In 2006, the story arc was republished in the Pugad Baboy Sunday Comics compilation. Since the Sunday comic strips included in the compilation were originally in color, in contrast to the black-and-white strips of previous compilations, this story arc has the distinction of being the first to be reprinted in full color. It is also the first story arc to feature Igno as a major character.
Synopsis
Igno is hired by the brothers Ang, Alexander and Napoleon, to find Rudolf Cruz, who owes them a large debt. The brothers agree to pay Igno PhpPhilippine peso
The peso is the currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 centavos . Before 1967, the language used on the banknotes and coins was English and so "peso" was the name used...
400,000 for his efforts. Igno shows the Angs his proficiency for turning any object into a deadly weapon by using a sheet of coupon bond
Bond paper
Bond paper is a high quality durable writing paper similar to bank paper but having a weight greater than 50 g/m2. The name comes from it having originally been made for documents such as government bonds. It is now used for letterheads, other stationery and as paper for electronic printers...
to give the brothers' bodyguard a paper cut
Paper cut
A paper cut occurs when a piece of paper or other thin, sharp material slices a person's skin.Paper cuts, though named from paper, can also be caused by other thin, stiff materials, such as aluminium foil, knives, and thin blades of grass....
.
Background investigation
Igno consults his cousin Tomas, who gives him tips on how to find and capture Rudolf Cruz. However, the shoe-shine boy (Polgas) polishing Tomas' boots, who also happens to be a notary publicNotary public
A notary public in the common law world is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with estates, deeds, powers-of-attorney, and foreign and international business...
, suggests that Igno better check on the brothers' background first since Cruz had not been charged with any crime.
Igno takes the shoe-shine boy's suggestion and discovers that the Ang brothers are Chinese immigrants who chose the names of famous emperors because they believed they were the descendants of a Chinese emperor. They used to engage in the import-export industry, but later invested as financiers of a casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
.
Igno's capture and escape
After the background check, Igno decides to nab Rudolf Cruz. He locates Cruz betting in a off-track bettingOff-track betting
Off-track betting refers to sanctioned gambling on horse racing outside a race track.-US history:...
facility in Bulacan. Against the advice of Tomas, Igno arrests Rudolf roughly and out in the open. Igno calls the Ang brothers, telling them he has captured Cruz and asks for police assistance. Police indeed appear during the conversation and suddenly take both Igno and Cruz into custody.
However, instead of being put behind bars, the two are tied up and detained in a warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
. Rudolf Cruz tells Igno that the police who detained them were the same characters who had been watching his every move and that they nabbed Igno as well, thinking that he was helping Rudolf escape Bulacan. During the conversation, Igno splits a paint can lid and uses a half's sharp edge to cut the rope binding his arms. He then rips off the bottom of the paint can and makes two improvised shuriken
Shuriken
A shuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that was generally used for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing...
.
Igno then picks the lock on the door and catches their guard's attention. As the guard reaches for his rifle, Igno throws the two shuriken at him, hitting him squarely on the cheeks. The guard even quips that by the time his puncture wounds heal, he would have dimple
Dimple
A dimple is a small natural indentation in the flesh on a part of the human body, most notably in the cheek or on the chin.-More about dimples:...
s like those of actor Aga Muhlach
Aga Muhlach
Ariel Aquino Muhlach , commonly known as Aga Muhlach, is a 2-time Gawad Urian and FAMAS award-winning Filipino actor and product endorser...
. For this reason, the two call the guard from that point onwards, "Dimples."
After Igno and Rudolf escape, Igno tracks down and retrieves his cellphone from a pawnshop, where the policemen who had confiscated it had pawned it. He shows Rudolf the picture of the Ang brothers and after receiving a text message telling him to proceed to a warehouse where they would meet, he sends a short classified ad to a tabloid called "Bought and Sold" (a spoof of the classified ads newspaper Buy & Sell).
While spending the night in a forested area, Rudolf reveals to Igno that he was an accountant in Caesar's Casino, owned by a pair of Bulaqueños
Bulacan
Bulacan , officially called the Province of Bulacan or simply Bulacan Province, is a first class province of the Republic of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Region in the island of Luzon, north of Manila , and part of the Metro...
who do not want to have their identities revealed. The said brothers, Rudolf explains, are also running the illegal numbers game jueteng
Jueteng
Jueteng is an illegal numbers game played in the Philippines. Jueteng originated from China and means "flower" and "bet" . Although illegal, it is a widely popular game with participation that crosses most, if not all social and economic boundaries, played by rich and poor alike...
. The brothers want Rudolf to be taken down because he knows much about their operation. Rudolf decided to take out life insurance, steal money, and hide somewhere safe. Rudolf also shows Igno a bullet from a Colt 45
.45 ACP
The .45 ACP , also known as the .45 Auto by C.I.P., is a cartridge designed by John Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic .45 pistol and eventually the M1911 pistol adopted by the United States Army in 1911.-Design and history:The U.S...
sent to him as a threat.
Another confrontation
The next day, Igno and Rudolf are having some snacks in the warehouse where they were waiting for the Ang brothers. Rudolf is puzzled to see Igno purposely not finishing his ears of corn and turning his barbecueBarbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
skewers into small arrow
Arrow
An arrow is a shafted projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.An arrow usually consists of a shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end, with fletchings and a nock at the other.- History:...
s. Igno goes out to meet the policemen who are supposed to take Rudolf away. However, Igno spots "Dimples" in the driver's seat of the police car, and he begins throwing his improvised weapons at the officers. Igno and Rudolf manage to escape the warehouse after the ping-pong balls which were stored inside were set afire in the ensuing commotion.
Once outside, a goon hacks at Igno with a bolo
Bolo
Bolo may refer to:* Bolo bat, a child's toy* Bolo knife, a Filipino knife similar to the machete* Bolo punch, a wide sweeping lower cut used in boxing* Bolo tie, decorative string tie...
knife, but Igno catches the blow on his metal bracelet
Bracelet
A bracelet is an article of jewelry which is worn around the wrist. Bracelets can be manufactured from metal, leather, cloth, plastic or other materials and sometimes contain jewels, rocks, wood, and/or shells...
s. Another goon aims a pistol at him, but Igno tosses an alley cat at the bad guy. The animal proceeds to scratch at the poor fellow. The duo made good their escape and hid out in Rudolf's kubo (a native bamboo and thatch hut
Hut (dwelling)
A hut is a small and crude shelter, usually used for dwelling. Its design favors local techniques and materials to allow for swift and inexpensive construction.-Modern use:...
). Monitoring the police channel via the radio he had taken from one of the goons, Igno listens to reports regarding the activities of Los Kosas Muntinlupas, a notorious group of former inmates of the New Bilibid Prison
New Bilibid Prison
The New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, Philippines, is the main insular penitentiary designed to house the prison population of the Philippines. It is maintained by the Bureau of Corrections under the Philippine Department of Justice. As of October 2004, it has an inmate population of 16,747....
s. This, he reasons, would distract the crooked cops enough to afford them the opportunity to get out of Bulacan.
Igno and Rudolf leave the hut and took a jeepney
Jeepney
Jeepneys are the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. They were originally made from US military jeeps left over from World War II and are known for their flamboyant decoration and crowded seating...
, but before reaching a police checkpoint, they got off. Igno then prepares to tangle with the responding cops as he knew the jeepney driver would disclose their presence to the policemen at the checkpoint. Two cops in a motorized tricycle
Tricycle
A tricycle is a three-wheeled vehicle. While tricycles are often associated with the small three-wheeled vehicles used by pre-school-age children, they are also used by adults for a variety of purposes. In the United States and Canada, adult-sized tricycles are used primarily by older persons for...
show up and Igno disables them, taking the trike. Using the vehicle, he dupes Dimples into thinking that they were trying to escape. He gives chase, but falls into Igno's trap and is taken captive. Igno forces him to drive to the Ang brothers' house.
The Angs' true identity
Igno and Rudolf gain access to the house by a clever ruse of exchanging Dimples' and Igno's attire. Igno manages to subdue the younger Ang as Rudolf covers the rest of the goons; Rudolf also makes the observation that this was not the Alex Ang that he worked for. At this point, Nap, the elder brother, makes an appearance. Taking Rudolf hostage, he forces Igno to release Alex.Igno and Rudolf are then taken to the warehouse again and tied up. Rudolf is threatened with Igno's necklacing
Necklacing
Necklacing is the practice of summary execution and torture carried out by forcing a rubber tyre, filled with petrol, around a victim's chest and arms, and setting it on fire...
should he not reveal the whereabouts of the money he took from the Angs. Rudolf then reveals that he had the money converted to treasury bills and had hidden these in his person. Alex retrieves the T-bills and then thoroughly washes his hands, fearing he might be contaminated with Rudolf's "queerness."
Nap then reveals their true identities; they were in reality, not the Ang brothers. They were jueteng operators who had gone to Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
as medical tourists
Medical tourism
Medical tourism is a term initially coined by travel agencies and the mass media to describe the rapidly-growing practice of travelling across international borders to obtain health care...
with the intent of having their appearances changed to resemble the Angs. They had coerced the Angs in swapping identities with them in order to throw the authorities off their track.
Endgame
Nap then orders one of his goons to light up the tire around Igno's neck; Igno however, took the opportunity of the lit lighter in his face to belch a flammable cloud of alcohol-laden breath to set the goon's torso aflame. Nap then threatens to shoot Rudolf, but Igno places himself between the two, shielding Rudolf from harm. Before Nap could pull the trigger, flaming cans of shoe polishShoe polish
Shoe polish , usually a waxy paste or a cream, is a consumer product used to polish, shine, waterproof, and restore the appearance of leather shoes or boots, thereby extending the footwear's life...
strike him and his goons. Polgas, in the guise of The Polisher (a spoof of The Punisher
Punisher
The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...
) has arrived to the rescue. He tells everyone that the police were on the way.
Taking advantage of the distraction created by a brief scuffle between Igno and the Angs' bodyguard, Nap pulls out a derringer
Derringer
The term derringer is a genericized misspelling of the last name of Henry Deringer, a famous 19th-century maker of small pocket pistols. Many copies of the original Philadelphia Deringer pistol were made by other gun makers worldwide, and the name was often misspelled; this misspelling soon became...
and aims it at Igno. A shot is heard, and Nap finds a bleeding hole in his gut; Rudolf has fashioned an improvised weapon out of the water pipes from a kitchen sink and had effectively used the bullet mailed to him by Nap as a threat.
The police arrive and take the bad guys away.
Epilogue
The true Ang brothers get their identities back, and the jueteng lords are in the midst of defending themselves in court. Igno's record is also clean; he is no longer "Wanted" in Bulacan. Igno takes Tomas out to Rudolf's hut, intending to tear down the structure and transport it home, as Rudolf had bequeathed this to him as a reward. They soon notice that the bamboo posts in the hut had small holes in them. Upon closer inspection, they discover that all the posts in the hut were filled with loose change. Using the money retrieved from the hut, Tomas buys new guns for his collection and Igno gets himself a pickup truckPickup truck
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...
and a new house. However, he reveals in the next strip that the cash he and Tomas found were only enough for the house, gun collection, and truck and thus, as part of the strip's punch line, asks Mao for an IOU.