Reportage on Crime by Nick Joaquin (1977)

TL;DR: It is a collection of crime/horror stories that happened in Manila around the 50's and 60's. 


To say that this is a terrifying read is an understatement. Combined with the subject matter and Nick Joaquin's style of writing gives the stories a certain kind of flair that amplifies the tension. There were some prominent individuals, one including Joseph Estrada; a couple actors and actresses. And others who seem to be normal people dealt bad hands with bad circumstances aggravating fate with bad choices. It is a different view of Manila. It appears that even before Martial Law, the country had its share of terrible events.

The first chapter opens with an overzealous dad; unable to let go of her daughter's freedom kills his family and daughter's husband in the process. The second is about a kid stuck out of his identify trying to fit in; trying to prove he's somebody in the streets, and gets in with the wrong crowd. The third is more like in-group loyalty being tested with celebrities seemingly sticking up for each other, ending up with a Gun Duel. The fourth is horrifying. Like a local exorcist episode. The fifth is about the plight of town/province girls looking to help their families with the promise of a job in the metro only to be forced into prostitution. The sixth is about a boxer and manager's point of view with an increasing confluence of politics and fight fixing. The seventh is about an actresses' kid who found a career in crime movies only to live and die with a similar fate to the genre's usual characters. The eight is about arson in a once thriving place of the elites that turned into a place of poverty. The ninth is close to a local Ocean's Eleven, except in this the group tries to rob a Food Agency instead of a casino and it ends badly. The tenth; a mix of the local entertainment scene and the criminal underworld. The eleventh; this is probably the only one with positive note, a female doctor is forced into an ordeal by cops, files a court case against the abusive police officers and wins. The twelfth is about a gun-for-hire; who supposedly went out quite freely on orders of local mayors/governors, the person seems similar to the gun-for-hire character in the movie, On The Job. The last is about death penalty, at the time, the mode of execution: Electric Chair. 


By the 90's the death penalty was executed through lethal injection. In an increasingly critical thinking, and remaining a generally Roman Catholic country, by 2000's the death penalty was abolished.




Nick Joaquin made a much lighter creation. This time on the subject of Romance and Love.

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