The Olongapo Caper
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 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 49 strips long. In 1995, the story arc was reprinted in Pugad Baboy 6, the sixth book compilation of the comic strip series.
Synopsis
Bab and Joboy hie off to Olongapo CityOlongapo City
The City of Olongapo is a highly urbanized city located in the province of Zambales, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 227,270 people in 50,300 households.-History:...
, Zambales where they meet Amerasian
Amerasian
In its original meaning, an Amerasian is a person born in Asia, to a U.S. military father and an Asian mother. The term has sometimes been used to describe a person in the United States of mixed Asian and non-Asian ancestry, regardless of the circumstances....
Philip West, a waiter in the bar where the pair were having drinks. After becoming the object of a racial slur by a fellow waiter, Philip quits his job and offers to act as Bab and Joboy's tour guide for free. He takes them swimming from the Paradise Resort to the White Rock Beach Hotel beaches where they spot a woman on a jet ski
Jet ski
Jet Ski is the brand name of a personal watercraft manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The name is sometimes mistakenly used by those unfamiliar with the personal watercraft industry to refer to any type of personal watercraft; however, the name is a valid trademark registered with the...
having mechanical problems. They attempt to aid the woman and while they are doing so, another lady on the beach hails Philip. Philip recognizes the woman to be his sister, Pinky. The woman on the jet ski introduces herself as Agnes, Pinky's friend. At this point an unidentified man offers Agnes to Philip for fifty dollars, mistaking him for a wealthy American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
tourist. Agnes implies that she and Pinky are in the same situation. Realizing his mistake, the pimp
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
threatens Philip, aiming a spear gun at him. Bab and Joboy come to his rescue by scooping up a jellyfish
Jellyfish
Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...
and mashing the animal on the pimp's face. Stung by the jellyfish's tentacles, the pimp rushes for shore. Philip soon notices that Pinky is gone and Agnes explains that they were being held hostage by a prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
syndicate
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
operating in the city.
Bark Justice and Babman
The trio embark on a mission to rescue Pinky from the syndicate. Acting on a tip from Agnes that she was recruited by an unknown woman who took her to Arthur's Bar after a quarrel with her boyfriend, they stake out the place. Agnes soon recognizes the man her former pimp was talking to in the bar; it was Wendell, her erstwhile boyfriend. They conclude that Wendell was working for the syndicate all along, victimizing innocent women for the prostitution racket. Philip, Bab and Joboy then went to the Regional Trial Court in Olongapo City and asked a judge for an arrest warrant for Wendell. The judge replied that there was no such thing as a warrantWarrant (law)
Most often, the term warrant refers to a specific type of authorization; a writ issued by a competent officer, usually a judge or magistrate, which permits an otherwise illegal act that would violate individual rights and affords the person executing the writ protection from damages if the act is...
for a citizen's arrest
Citizen's arrest
A citizen's arrest is an arrest made by a person who is not acting as a sworn law-enforcement official. In common law jurisdictions, the practice dates back to medieval Britain and the English common law, in which sheriffs encouraged ordinary citizens to help apprehend law breakers.Despite the...
. The trio leave the court, led by Bab, who had changed into his Babman persona (a spoof of Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
), determined to pursue the syndicate.
Unbeknownst to them, the judge they had seen was Polgas in the guise of Judge Tickolas Marshall (a spoof of Judge Nicholas Marshall of Dark Justice
Dark Justice
The series began airing in 1991 and ran for three seasons finishing in 1993.Tagline: "Justice may be blind... but it can see in the dark."- Production and filming :...
fame), who believed in "Bark Justice". Judge Marshall follows the trio's pursuit of the syndicate's van mounted on his motorcycle. Babman and his cohorts meanwhile, had taken the Fatmobile and were in hot pursuit. Gunfire from the van erupted, hitting the Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
's gas tank. Babman and the rest managed to abandon the vehicle before it blew up. Wendell in the syndicate's van soon spots Judge Tickolas Marshall following them on his motorcycle, however, he missed the vigilante with every burst from his weapon. Judge Marshall soon heads off the van and leaps on top of the vehicle as the driver smashes into his motorcycle. Thinking that they had killed Judge Marshall, the gang heads for their hideout. Judge Marshall, safely on top of the van, leaves a trail for Philip, Bab and Joboy to follow by throwing lingerie
Lingerie
Lingerie are fashionable and possibly alluring undergarments.Lingerie usually incorporates one or more flexible, stretchy materials like Lycra, nylon , polyester, satin, lace, silk and sheer fabric which are not typically used in more functional, basic cotton undergarments.The term in the French...
he had taken from the suitcases atop the vehicle into the road behind.
G.I. Jones
The van headed for Cubi PointNaval Air Station Cubi Point
U.S. Naval Air Station Cubi Point was a United States Navy aerial facility located at the edge of Naval Base Subic Bay and abutting the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines.- History :...
where it was driven into a waiting LCT
Landing craft tank
The Landing Craft, Tank was an amphibious assault ship for landing tanks on beachheads. They were initially developed by the British Royal Navy and later by the United States Navy during World War II in a series of versions. Initially known as the "Tank Landing Craft" by the British, they later...
on the beach. As the barge sailed off into Subic Bay
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...
, Judge Marshall got off the van and located the syndicate's armory, where he rigged up a surprise. He then proceeded to disable the guards in the barge one by one. He was however defeated when in the act of grabbing the last goon, he discovered that it was a woman. Being the perfect gentleman, the Judge was unable to strike and hesitated, allowing the woman to cover him with her weapon. Sounding the alarm, she brings the rest of the gang in, including their leader, Cassius "G.I." Jones, an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
member of the US Navy who deserted
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
and organized a white slavery
Sexual slavery
Sexual slavery is when unwilling people are coerced into slavery for sexual exploitation. The incidence of sexual slavery by country has been studied and tabulated by UNESCO, with the cooperation of various international agencies...
operation in the country.
Taking his jacket off, Judge Marshall tosses it into his jury-rigged surprise - a wire attached to a flare gun
Flare gun
A flare gun is a firearm that launches flares. It is typically used for signalling, as distress signalling, at sea or from the ground to aircraft...
aimed at the armory. The activated flare ignites the syndicate's store of ammunition and explosives, affording Judge Marshall the diversion he needed to grab a weapon from one of the goons. The gang soon run out of bullets and Judge Marshall steps out of cover to arrest the syndicate members. Jones, however, orders Rosie to relieve the Judge of his weapon, knowing Judge Marshall's weakness. As Rosie was about to grab Marshall's weapon, Agnes makes an appearance and gives Rosie an uppercut. She does the same to Wendell. Agnes then explains to Judge Marshall that she had picked up Babman, Philip and Joboy after they abandoned the Fatmobile and had been following his trail of lingerie. Babman chooses that moment to leap into barge from its high slab sides. Unfortunately, his weight punches a hole right through the barge's hull. Water begins to fill the LCT. Judge Marshall tells Joboy to free the hostages and swim for shore, while he takes care of G.I. Jones. Philip, however, asks Judge Marshall to leave G.I. Jones to him. The two square off; G.I. Jones is bigger and stronger, but Philip's lethal combination of an African American and Filipino heritage allows him to subdue the US Navy deserter.
Judge Marshall tells Joboy and Philip to give everyone, including the syndicate members, the tires they had found inside the barge as life preservers
Personal flotation device
A personal flotation device is a device designed to assist a wearer, either conscious or unconscious, to keep afloat.Devices designed and approved by authorities for use by...
. They would have found it difficult to save everyone if not for the timely arrival of a Marine launch
Launch (boat)
A launch in contemporary usage refers to a large motorboat. The name originally referred to the largest boat carried by a warship. The etymology of the word is given as Portuguese lancha "barge", from Malay lancha, lancharan, "boat," from lanchar "velocity without effort," "action of gliding...
that took them off the sea. Babman was in the boat and claimed to have swum all the way to the Spratly Islands
Spratly Islands
The Spratly Islands are a group of more than 750 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia , about one third of the way from there to southern Vietnam. They comprise less than four square kilometers of land...
in order to summon help.
Epilogue
G.I. Jones wakes and find himself tied up, surrounded by a people's court composed of parents of his victims convened by Judge Tickolas Marshall, who sentences him to "die in any way possible". Judge Marshall leaves as the mob began to menace Jones.Philip receives a letter from his father in San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, inviting him over. He, however, decides to remain in the Philippines and plans to open a fitness gym where he would teach bodybuilding
Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their...
and boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
while his sister Pinky and Agnes would be aerobics
Aerobics
Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness...
instructors.
As Bab and Joboy make their way home from Olongapo aboard a bus, they had time to watch a news report on television recounting the downfall of G.I. Jones' syndicate and how Richard Gordon
Richard Gordon (politician)
Richard "Dick" Juico Gordon is a Filipino politician and broadcaster who currently serves as the chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross....
personally thanked them for leading the authorities to the syndicate's hideout, much to the wonder of two men Bab and Joboy had earlier been exchanging bragging blows with.
Trivia
- This is Babman's first appearance in the comic strip. He would make another appearance as the main character in BabmanBabmanBabman is an adventure story arc of the Philippine comic strip series Pugad Baboy, created by Pol Medina Jr. and originally published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. This particular story arc lasts 37 strips long...
. - When Philip explains that he is AmerasianAmerasianIn its original meaning, an Amerasian is a person born in Asia, to a U.S. military father and an Asian mother. The term has sometimes been used to describe a person in the United States of mixed Asian and non-Asian ancestry, regardless of the circumstances....
, Bab misinterprets what he hears and thinks that the word refers to memory loss - amnesiaAmnesiaAmnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
. - Bab actually loses his way when the trio dive off Paradise Resort - he ends up in the Spratly IslandsSpratly IslandsThe Spratly Islands are a group of more than 750 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia , about one third of the way from there to southern Vietnam. They comprise less than four square kilometers of land...
. He repeats the performance again after holing Jones' LCT. The Marines take him back both times. However, one of the Marines insist that Bab be kept on a tighter leash since they were fed up with traveling the long distance to drop him off. - It is obvious that Joboy, despite being a mechanic, knows nothing about how a jet skiJet skiJet Ski is the brand name of a personal watercraft manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The name is sometimes mistakenly used by those unfamiliar with the personal watercraft industry to refer to any type of personal watercraft; however, the name is a valid trademark registered with the...
functions. He speculates that "water may have gotten into the exhaust pipe" and attempts to push-start the stalled vehicle, telling Agnes to put the jet ski into "second gear and pop the clutch". - Babman's "Fat-Signal" (a spoof of the Bat-SignalBat-SignalThe Bat-Signal is a distress signal device appearing in the various interpretations of the Batman mythos. It is a specially modified Klieg searchlight with a stylized symbol of a bat attached to the light so that it projects a large Bat emblem on the sky or buildings of Gotham City...
), is a peace symbolPeace symbolA number of peace symbols have been used in various cultures and contexts, one of the most ancient being the olive branch. The dove and olive branch was used by early Christians and was later adopted as a secular symbol. It was popularised by Pablo Picasso in 1949 and became widely used in the...
. - Judge Tickolas Marshall's motto is a modification of the Dark JusticeDark JusticeThe series began airing in 1991 and ran for three seasons finishing in 1993.Tagline: "Justice may be blind... but it can see in the dark."- Production and filming :...
tagline, "Justice may be blind, but it can see in the dark.". His version is "Justice may be blind, but you can hear its bark." - In response to a guard's password challenge, one of the bad guys in the van responds by singing the opening lines of the Imelda PapinImelda PapinImelda Papin is a Filipino singer and one of the bigger names in the Philippine music industry. Dubbed the "Sentimental Songstress", Imelda Papin is responsible for songs such as "Bakit " and "Isang Linggong Pag-ibig"....
balladBalladA ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
Isang Linggong Pag-ibig (FilipinoFilipino languageThis 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:...
, "A Week-long Love Affair"). - 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:...
makes a small mistake in this story arc, mis-labeling a flare gunFlare gunA flare gun is a firearm that launches flares. It is typically used for signalling, as distress signalling, at sea or from the ground to aircraft...
as an "Avery Pistol". Flare guns are sometimes called "Very Pistols" after Edward Wilson Very, the gadget's inventor. - Babman's line, "Have you ever danced with the devil... in the pale moonlight?" is borrowed from the 1989 BatmanBatman (1989 film)Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
movie starring Michael KeatonMichael KeatonMichael John Douglas , better known by the stage name Michael Keaton, is an American actor known for his early comedic roles, most notably his performance as the title character of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice . Keaton is also famous for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton's...
. In a scene in the film, The JokerJoker (comics)The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...
asks Bruce Wayne, "Tell me something, friend. Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?". - The fourth wallFourth wallThe 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...
is broken once more as Judge Marshall talks Joboy and Philip out of letting the syndicate go down with the barge. There are "witnesses", he says, pointing at the reader, much to the duo's disappointment. - Judge Marshall's unwillingness to hurt women is so far the only fear specific to a guise of Polgas. Polgas' general weakness of losing consciousness upon smelling a very foul odor, however, is not seen in Judge Marshall. Inversely, being a weakness specific to a guise, this weakness of gallantry is not seen yet in any of his other guises
- A minor arc preceding this one, in the same book, actually introduces Judge Marshall and discusses the kinds of sentences he lays out, probably as an appetizer to what kind of sentence he will eventually pass on to Jones.