‘Finding Bon Marco’

BACOLOD CITY –– Find the dog.

A retired college professor in this provincial capital of Negros Occidental came up with a series of illustrations of a mischievous lemon-colored Beagle dog named Bon Marco, which she hides amid a variety of designs and artworks.

While the idea of locating Bon Marco seemed easy, it was a real challenge for those who attempted to find the dog.

The “Finding Bon Marco” series has become a hit among social media followers of Bugsy Lopez Bongco, who posted her illustrations on Facebook and Instagram twice a week.

“Many of those who play the #FindingBonMarco series told me they enjoy doing it because it keeps their minds away from COVID-19 and politics,” said Bongco, a lawyer, who taught accounting and auditing at the Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod and the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City.

Some of her followers, she said, bought the artworks—the payments of which she used to raise funds to buy meals for undernourished children and typhoon victims.

In the cartoon scenes, Bongco hides Bon Marco amid plants, which is what the dog does in real life, or in between the characters she drew.

The catch is it’s hard to locate Bon Marco since there were times that Bongco only shows the dog’s face, snout, ear, or half of his body with his tail.

Bon Marco, in real life, is Bongco’s beagle or a small hound that is similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound.

“One has to look for Bon Marco, my lemon Beagle in the cartoon. Sometimes, it’s only Bon Marco but I also put my other Beagles and two aspins as decoys,” she said.

The name Aspin is a shortened version of “asong Pinoy” which can be translated to native dog.

Bongco, 63, said the cartoon series used to be posted on her personal Facebook account only, but as followers grew in number, she decided to start posting the ‘Finding Bon Marco’ game on the FB page called The Legal Beagles.

Bongco retired in 2016 after 30 years of teaching. Since then, she makes herself busy by drawing her dogs before she paints them with watercolor.

According to Bongco, the #FindingBonMarco series started by accident.

“I was drawing the San Sebastian Cathedral (in Bacolod) and made a mistake. I tried to hide that mistake by drawing Bon Marco over the error. Then I asked a friend to look for him,” she said.

Bongco said she was surprised that people enjoyed looking for Bon Marco.

”Later, I added myself (in the illustration) so one has to look for Bon Marco and me,” she said.

Bongco reveals the answers as to where the dog is after two to three days or just before the next Finding Bon Marco piece comes out.

The original cartoon pieces were not supposed to be sold but when an offer came to acquire one, Bongco said many others followed.

“I think it was a good way to raise funds to buy meals,” Bongco said.

“Finding Bon Marco cartoon pieces are also ‘bartered’ for donations for Negrense Volunteers for Change meal bags, and now for the Bicol typhoon relief operations of the group,” she added.

To join the fun and find the lemon Beagle, one can go to The Legal Beagles Facebook page or try the hashtag, #FindingBonMarco.

LZB