The Special Rehabilitation Program is a division of Manila's police force that leases out the metropolis' prison population as unpaid labour in exchange for a reduction in sentences. One particular branch is used by the government as a Hunter org.
Overview[]
Jails in the Philippines have never existed as places to lock up bad men. Sure, administrations will make a big show out of being heroes to the Filipino people and arresting peers who have proven to be “corrupt,” or busting up the operations of a big crime lord, or cleaning the streets of degenerates and so-called criminals in the making. The truth of it, though, is that political figures get cushy air-conditioned jail cells with every creature comfort accessible to them while they wait for next election season, and crime lords almost always manage to make their own little kingdoms within the premises. The “degenerates” are often simple folk who spoke ill of the government, or some unlucky sods that police decided to arrest for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or — worse yet — the fall guy for some middle-class or rich brat whose family paid theirs to be a stand-in and do some time.
Inmates can reduce their sentence in many ways, and almost all of them are very illegal. Wardens who answer to some bigshot from the outside regularly fish suitable candidates out to do free labor for folks who won’t ask too many questions. Gangsters in Manila, warlords from the provinces beyond the city, and crooked businesspeople are always on the market for desperate individuals they can send off as hitmen and bruisers. Those sorts return to their cells the moment the job’s done, effectively making them disappear, and confounding good cops and private investigators alike.
The one legal way to work for one’s freedom if you don’t have the money, the means, or the friends in high places is the Special Rehabilitation Program. And for all intents and purposes, it probably shouldn’t be legal, either.
One particular branch of the Department of Justice’s SRP is a cover for the Philippines’ government-sanctioned Hunter org. The PR-friendly explanation is that the President recognizes prisoner’s rights, the value of restorative justice, and the plight of ex-inmates who find that they can’t rebuild their lives after doing their time. In reality, the authors of the Program wanted to kill two birds with one stone: Stop their rivals from using inmates for their own purposes by monopolizing the supply, and have the means to cull supernatural threats within Manila.
Operation[]
The Special Rehabilitation Program operates out of a small, gated compound sandwiched between the Supreme Court of the Philippines and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). To outsiders, the place looks like police barracks with training facilities. Most of the SRP’s real facilities are underground, located in three secure basement levels.
SRP’s hunter pool is divided between the Program’s legitimate agents — specialists who came into the life willingly, operate on the government’s payroll and assets provided by generous private sponsors, and can leave whenever they wish — and patients, “Hunters” who were taken from the various jails in the metropolis and work whatever jobs they’re given to earn their freedom. What the public knows is that patients are given jobs under government supervision and participate in highly progressive rehabilitation regimens in order to reintroduce them to society once their prison sentences conclude. In truth, there is no rehab: Patients are sent out on jobs with an agent handler from top side, and they handle the monsters of the night that stalk Manila’s streets. Occasionally, patients of the Program are sent out for photo ops, where their superiors put them in the distinct jumpsuits of the jail they came from, make them do some menial but beneficial work like street cleaning or taking out trash, and snap photos for the press.
When they’re not on the job, patients return to their prison cells and are expected to lay low until their handlers fetch them. They’re expected to keep the SRP’s secrets, even if it means lying to fellow inmates about the nature of their work, and severe state violence backs this secrecy. Human Resources does what it can to make patients comfortable where they are without being too obvious about it, but they’re not above cutting a particularly troublesome patient loose if they have to.
It’s not unheard of for a patient to come to the SRP because they’re the fall guy for a more privileged actual lawbreaker, or even for a family member or loved one of theirs. In cases like this, the original patient may not have the mental or physical faculties to participate in the Program (or buy their way out of it), but the “volunteer” in question did, and was willing to do the work to set them free. Legal Compliance and Human Resources team up to arrange for a quiet release of the original patient, and — when necessary — fabricate mundane criminal charges for their new agent.
SRP hunters handle any case that comes to their doorstep, and operate like detectives do with the occasional intrusion of the supernatural. They don’t employ (or even often have) a lot of specialized knowledge, and rarely have adequate means to handle a supernatural threat. Most de facto Hunters must get by with their wits, their body armor, and whatever weaponry the Program trusts in the hands of convicted criminals. This is a significant factor in the high attrition rate of the SRP, but the sorts who come to their doorstep are often desperate enough to try.
Patients each have a personal scoreboard that counts as their credit within the Program, and they must work thrice as hard as agents compared to their peers, and — should they survive the Program — simply get cut loose once they’ve done their time. They don’t receive any kind of pension, because for all intents and purposes they never existed as government workers on record, and were wards of the state for the entirety of their hunting career. An ex-patient would be lucky if one of their superiors took pity on them and sent them off with something to help them restart their lives. Few patients see any significant volume of supernatural activity; fewer still survive beyond casual contact or multiple investigations into actual supernatural activity.
Personnel[]
- Chairman: Charo Bahaghari
- Head of Operations: Liana Panilio. Liaises with external parties and hands out missions for Hunters in the Program.
- Head of Legal Compliance: Attorney Dio Malaahas. Handles the cleanup in the wake of SRP operations and does all the Program’s dirty work on call.
- Head of Human Resources: Roy Sison. Does the rounds of the Manila jails, picking out candidates for the SRP.
- Lead Trainer: Special Agent Petrik Barrion. Mentors new candidates and handles general training for all agents.
Gallery[]

References[]
- HTR: 5th Edition Core Book, p. 246-248
Witch-hunter orgs | ||
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Coalition orgs | USA: FIRSTLIGHT/SAD/IAO · Brazil: BOES/PMEX · Russia: GRU-N58/Akritai/Unit 242 · UK: Newburgh Group/JTRG/SO13 · Vatican: La Entità/Society of St. Leopold · Bureau IX · Calcédoine · G-Kontoret · HSP · TID · Unit 8211 | |
Academic orgs | Arcanum | |
Corporate orgs | Chopra-wafadar · Fada · Monster-X · Neo Albion · Orpheus Group · Re:Venge · Strike Force Zero | |
Government orgs | DAAE · Division Six · GSG 10 · Manila DoJ-SRP · Project Twilight | |
Religious orgs | Ikhwan al-Safa · The Judges · Nails of Christ · Order of the Rose · Society of St. George | |
Vigilante orgs | Cog Conspiracy · D-Club · Duffy Family · ECLIPSE · Mortician's Army · Toussaint Brigade
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