Is SIOPAWMAN the First Pinoy Komiks Superhero?

As posted in Dennis Villegas' Pilipinokomiks blog:

"The very first Pinoy komiks superheroes appeared in 1946, right at the birth of the Philippine comics industry. Incidentally, that year also marked the independence of the Philippines from the United States, after surviving the destructive three-year Japanese Occupation.

After the war, a few enterprising individuals started the very first komiks-magazines in the Philippines: Halakhak Komiks and Pilipino Komiks. Although Halakhak Komiks did not contain any serious superhero story, it had, on the other hand, a Pinoy funny superhero called Siopawman, created by a young cartoonist named Larry Alcala.

Siopawman by Larry Alcala may be the first, albeit fumbling, Pinoy komiks superhero."


SUPERHERO PROFILE

Name:  Siopawman
Nickname:  Siops
Creator:  Larry Alcala
First Appearance:  Halakhak Komiks, 1946
Power/abilities:  Super stomach. His big tummy is bullet proof, elastic (he can bounce with it and leap to greater heights) and has super strength
Sidekick:  Okboy
Enemies:  Jelloman, Man-Hid, She-Mangot, She-Pilyo, She-Bat, She-Pon, She-Feet, Chopperman
Origin/Backstory:  In Planet Siopaw, a baby was born different from any other being in the planet. He has a nose, similar to the inhabitants of Planet Earth.  Her mother might have been watching Planet Earth creatures when she was conceiving.  Because of this, the parents decided to send the baby in Planet Earth.  The spacerocket with white fluffy mass of siopaw baby drops to Philippines in the hands of a poor couple (the husband's name is Teryo). However, the couple noticed the boy's unusual apetite. Through an incident, the grown-up boy discovered that only eating Siopao could satisfy his apetite (Siopao is to Siopawman as Spinach is to Popeye), plus he was able to learn that he his stomach becomes bulletproof, has superstrength and is elastic upon eating siopao.  When he discovered this, he pledged to use them in fighting crime, injustice and the preservation of his favorite food, the siopao. That's the story of the fumbling superhero SIOPAWMAN.

Updates:  In 2003, Unitel Productions, Inc. of Tony Gloria and ToonManila posted a Siopawman Trailer in YouTube.  The team might be brewing a cartoon TV series or a full-length movie on the material. As of December 2010 however, there were no updates on the project.