MANILA, Philippines – What other introduction is necessary?

Since Tuesday last week, there were hints all over the Internet, indicating where that well-loved community of overweight wise guys (and dog) was moving to. This, after a not-so-friendly episode at his old home  newspaper.

“Akala ’nyo patay na ’ko, ’no? (So you thought I’m dead, huh?)” asked Polgas, Pol Medina Jr’s alter ego in Pugad Baboy, in a June 11 strip uploaded on the cartoonist’s Facebook page.

On Independence Day, everybody’s favorite dog did a Han Solo, broke free from his carbonite block – borrowing Star Wars’ futuristic theme to say the limitations of the print medium no longer confine him.

Then, on Saturday, a poster of the irreverent dog’s paw print appeared on social media. It bore that familiar shade of orange on Rappler.com’s chat bubble.

The sharpest of fans knew it! In fact, they knew as early as last week, when Rappler published that PMJr interview: “Pugad Baboy creator: Online is the way to go.”

Moving online

So, without further ado – yes, Polgas and the rest of the clever gang are now with Rappler. In this social news network, the satire that shaped the opinion – and humor – of an entire generation since the late 1980s will be dressed up in true online fashion.

Starting Monday, June 17, Pol Medina Jr’s strip will be called #PugadBaboy, the web comic.

Daily, from Mondays to Saturdays, #PugadBaboy will pop up on the Rappler site at exactly 5 am, to greet early risers in this part of the world, and Filipinos on the other side of the planet just heading home from work.

Click on the first frame, which will appear on Rappler’s home page, and you will be led to a page where you won’t only read the full comic strip, you’ll get to choose which last frame or punchline you like best.

It’s you. Collaborating with PMJr on #PugadBaboy. Every day.

I guess that’s all we can say to keep this article as just, well, a teaser.

Doodles to satire

We’ll leave you, though, with this anecdote, which fans who read one of the earliest features on PMJr will surely remember: When toddler Pol started messing up their walls with doodles, his mother didn’t stop him – never did.

The next decades, of course, saw him earning a degree in architecture, surviving homesickness with a dog in Iraq, and getting lost in Intramuros to providentially end up at the doorstep of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

And since then, he has given Filipino readers perhaps the smartest and definitely longest-running satire since Nonoy Marcelo’s “Ikabod Bubwit.”

Clearly, he owes the beginnings of his art, his first taste of free expression, to his mother.

In cyberspace – on Rappler – we’re going to give him all the “walls” and “space” he needs to “oink” (or “arf”) on.

Welcome, PMJr! #PugadBaboy is home!– Rappler.com

On Friday, June 21, our social media team will be doing a Google Hangout with the man himself, Pol Medina Jr, at 4 pm, to be livestreamed on our front page. Join us!