As a tragic tale, it covers a whole plethora of emotions surrounding the lives of some of the poorest people in Manila portrayed in the film.

[1][2][3] Basilio (Kristoffer King) escapes provincial Leyte to the slums of Manila with his younger brother Buboy (Alcris Galura).

Residing in the shanty town tenements beneath the tourist-infested breakwater and seawalls of the city, Basilio falls in love with a prostitute named Paquita (Katherine Luna).

Paquita started whoring early in life that at her relatively young age she's already "played out", her body full of sexual diseases and open sores.

But their relationship is troubled only by the apparent poverty and the more impending threat of the slums' jealous protector, ex-cop Dave (Gardo Versoza).