Functional equations in branched covering maps

We study the functional equation $f\circ p=g\circ q,$ where $f,$ $g,$ $p,$ $q$ are branched covering maps between closed surfaces. In particular, we extend results on semiconjugate holomorphic maps between compact Riemann surfaces to this broader setting. As an application, we present an alternative proof of the fact that every quotient of a torus endomorphism has a parabolic orbifold, along with some extensions of this result.