Persona Non Grata - Vol. 1

After the events of Dr. Jose Rizal's second novel "El Filibusterismo", the story follows the tale of the former students Basilio and Isagani in the aftermath of the failed assassination plot against the most powerful governing political figures in the Delos Santos residence. Now a licensed doctor and a tenured businessman, Basilio and Isagani returns to the Philippines after their 10-year venture in Spain and in the United States to spearhead a large-scale project for the Spanish crown. For the first time in the history of the country, the Spanish government has allowed Indios to pioneer major public works, and the Filipinos, seeing this as major milestone of their race, welcomed it cheering and with open arms. It was also during that same year when the new Captain-General was appointed to the Philippines following the scandal involving the outgoing Captain-General, who sent an entire battalion of Indio conscripts to be deliberately slaughtered by a gang of tulisanes led by a man going by the name 'Matanglawin' (Falcon-eye). Leonardo Montes, the incoming Captain-General, was both feared and loved by his subjects. A close friend of the king and reputed for upholding honor, discipline and goodwill among his subjects, he won the confidence of the Cortes and of the Filipino people when political unrest arose during the tenure of his predecessor when he represented the Philippines in the high courts and won the case. However, Montes, now at the early days of his tenure, is faced with a huge and pressing problem: the widespread opium trade in the Philippines. Chinese immigration to the Philippines has increased at an exponential rate since his predecessor came to power and so is the circulation of the substance within the country. And to make matters worse, strange cases of killings and abductions began to terrorize the country, with the motives of the culprit unknown...