Pugo

Pugo and Togo were a popular Filipino comedy tandem in Philippine movies during the 1940s up to 1960s. Mariano Contreras starred as the bald headed Pugo who was partnered with Togo. During the Japanese Occupation, the tandem was renamed Tuguing and Puguing. This was because Togo sounded too similar to Tojo, the name of the Prime Minister of Japan during the early 1940s. Their brand of humor consisted of short skits, slapstick, and funny dialogues presented in Manila's theaters, most particularly Clover Theater and Avenue Theater. In one skit, Togo would ask the time and Pugo would hold up his wrist wearing four or five watches, satirizing the Japanese soldier's fondness for watches. In another skit, Pugo would ask Togo who he was waiting for and he would reply "Si Uncle", meaning Uncle Sam (the United States). In another skit, Pogo would give a monologue caricaturing a Japanese official proclaiming that he "love[d] the Philippines" but pronouncing the word "love" as "rob", making fun of the Japanese people's mispronunciation of the letter "l" and "r." More often than not, the Japanese Kempetai would haul the two comedians to Fort Santiago for interrogation. After two or three days with bruises and cuts incurred from the Kempetai, the funny thing is that the Japanese always let them go.