SETTING (Manila, 2075)

Binondo, Art by Poncho Veloso Rulloda

Welcome to Metro Manila!

Back in 2013, Dan Brown described the city as the "Gates of Hell" in his book, Inferno. He was wrong though, Manila IS Hell.

The capital city of the 'pseudo-democratic' republic of the Philippines is both a battleground and buffet for the mega corporations and major crime syndicates not just in Asia, but in the whole world. Events from 2030 lead to this state wherein the country's government became a puppet of capitalist overlords. The corporations took the chance of the country's vulnerability, due to post 2020 pandemics, to 'buy' the country.

Highly populated and polluted, Metro Manila ranked third in the sixth world's ranking for places with the worst living conditions. In order to survive many would take extreme measures engaging in illegal activities such as drug trade and prostitution, reason why the number of those SINless exceed the number of those who have SINs.

Despite Metro Manila's condition, people still flock the capital for 'better opportunities' or simply for the chance to live longer. You might've seen the tourism ads promising nice beaches in the Philippines but that's not the reality. Outside the capital region, insurgents continue the war against the puppet government. Living conditions are worse with the threat of chemical hazards and 'monsters' roaming the lands.

Poverty is a choice?

That's what the successful entrepreneurs said in their motivational speeches, hiding the fact that in order to rise up to their status they had to step on others along the way.

Majority of the population in Metro Manila live below human conditions on make shift houses made of discarded wood. Rent for decent rooms are extremely high, even low ranking office employees can't afford them. High cost of living, below minimum wage, substandard sanitation, expensive health services, high criminality... the list goes on, getting sick is a luxury not anyone can afford.

Poverty incidence in the country is high but surprisingly the citizens are not as gloomy as the world would expect them nor as depressed. Resilience is what they developed living in hell and that same resilience is what the government use to control the masses.

Drug Trade

The country has the longest running campaign against illegal substance abuse and it will not be over. It is evident in the daily death toll of drug users that the police are using extreme measures against those who 'violate the law'. "No such thing as extra judicial killing," is what the government and media would report.

The victims of this 'purge' are mostly the poor. The rich, who can afford law services, can easily avoid instant death sentence, there's even low chance that the force would go after them.

Despite these 'killings', drug trade thrives. Drug dealers? Everyone seem to know one.

Night Life

There's a party everywhere, every night. There's a place for everyone to party at, rich or poor. If you're looking for something good about this hell, this is it. Metro Manila all kinds of distractions to take your mind away from reality.

Culture

Metro Manila is a melting pot. Different cultures are here, different races of metahumans are allowed to live here.

Language
Every Filipino knows their own language and either English, Spanish, Mandarin, or Japanese. This is due mainly to the influence of the mega corporations. They have to study at least one of those three languages in order to get a job. Some Filipinos don't even know how to speak their language anymore. There are activists who still push for reinforcing the language but over time they get fewer and fewer in number.

Colonial Mentality
Philippines' history of getting colonized over and over again enforced this thinking, that foreign culture is way better than their own. There's no such thing as Filipino culture anymore. If there is, it may just be a combination of two other cultures that influenced the country. With soykraf, even food identity was almost gone.

Malls GoT iT ALL fOr YoU!

Need something? Metro Manila's got a lot of malls to go to it's possible that the Megacorp who own the territories are funding these malls to sell their products. Malls got all the things you need. Malls got all the things you don't need. The brainwashing starts when you take a long look at the well crafted ads all over the place. They all have the same message of "Buy and Be" and will all prey on your Nuyen. Beware Shadowrunner, don't get distracted!

Transportation and TRAFFIC!

The roads are narrow but the vehicles are plenty. You better time your travels properly or you'll get stuck in a rush. Rush hour starts at 6 AM and ends at 10 AM then starts again at 4 PM and ends at 9 PM. During the 15th and 30th of the month, TRAFFIC is ALL DAY! Specially if it lands on a Friday.

Commuters can use the trains, Buses, Solar powered public utility Jeepneys or Taxis. Some parts still allow Tricycle and Pedicab taxi services. You can also use ride hailing services.

Best learn how to drive a motorcycle if you don't wanna be late for that 7 PM appointment.

Fresh Air?

The air's not clean except inside mega corp establishments. Don't wanna smell that dead rat or rotten egg smell? People often just drink alcohol to numb their senses. Some would use illegal substances. It's a matter of getting used to. If you lack the tolerance, just stay indoors. Face masks are no use against that smell and gas masks look awkward in public.

Water condition's worse. It's black, toxic, carries a lot of disease, and it stinks. Finding a corpse floating down the river is not something unusual. Rumour has it that something's lurking down there. No one can confirm it though.

Megacorporate Influence

Metro Manila is divided into areas according to the mega corporation that bought it.

Wuxing Inc. owns most of the western part of the region including Manila City, the country's capital.

Lone Star took the northern part of the region which was closest to what once was the US Military base in the Philippines.

Aztechnology conquered the southern region of Metro Manila making them most accessible to the country's farm lands south of the National Capital.

The Japanese Megacorp, Renraku ruled the eastern region, where most of the country's business centers are.

German megacorp, Saeder-Krupp is outside the National Capital Region, dominating Cebu City in the central part of the country.