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Stories Set in Manila

Stories Set in Manila — top stories

Around a broad bay, Manila is the Philippine capital, a city of walled churches, river docks and long avenues. Spain raised Intramuros here from 1571 and the United States took control in 1898, layering Catholic ritual and English schooling, while the 1945 battle for the city left deep scars. Metro Manila and Manila in the Claws of Light sit on its shelf. Open Manila on the StoryTerra map and filter its stories by any era.

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10 famous stories set in Manila

Live snapshot of the top 10 most popular catalogue items (2026-09-05). Click any card to open this entry on the live map.

Browse 9 books, 35 movies and 1 TV show set in Manila.

Metro Manila

Metro Manila

Chocolate Frog Films
movie

Looking for a brighter future in metropolitan Manila Oscar Ramirez and his family leave their miserable life in the rice terraces of Banaue in the northern Philippines. In the sweltering capital where all kind of perils…

Setting: Manila, PhilippinesTime Period: 2010s
Maging Sino Ka Man

Maging Sino Ka Man

Viva Films
movie

Monique is a popular singer disguised as Digna to escape from her stepfather and his stepbrother Gilbert who slowly killed her mother and also wanted to kill her to seize their wealth. Gilbert and his father thought…

Setting: Manila, PhilippinesTime Period: 1990s
Manila in the Claws of Light

Manila in the Claws of Light

Cinema Artists
movie

A young fisherman from a provincial village arrives in the capital on a quest to track down his girlfriend who was lured there with the promise of work and hasn’t been heard from since. In the meantime he takes a…

Setting: Manila, PhilippinesTime Period: 1970s
Trese

Trese

tvshow

In Manila, where dark supernatural forces pervade the criminal underworld, it’s up to Alexandra Trese to keep the peace — but there’s a storm brewing.

Setting: Manila, PhilippinesTime Period: Contemporary
Insiang

Insiang

Cinemanila
movie

A story about the life of a young girl living with her mother in the slums of Manila which becomes unbearable when her mother's young boyfriend moves in with them.

Setting: Manila, PhilippinesTime Period: 1970s
The Winds of War

The Winds of War

by Herman Wouk
book

Like no other masterpiece of historical fiction, Herman Wouk's sweeping epic of World War II is the great novel of America's Greatest Generation.Wouk's spellbinding narrative captures the tide of global events, as well…

Setting: ['Berlin (Germany)', 'Washington, D.C. (United States)', 'Hawaii (United States)', 'Germany', 'Italy', 'Atlantic Ocean', 'Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (United States)', 'Manila (Philippines)', 'Siena (Italy)']Time Period: 1941; World War II
Rich People Problems

Rich People Problems

by Kevin Kwan (Goodreads Author)
book

Kevin Kwan, bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians and China Rich Girlfriend, is back with an uproarious new novel featuring a family driven by fortune, an ex-wife driven psychotic with jealousy, a battle royal fought…

Setting: Singapore; Manila, Philippines; Hong Kong; Sulu Sea; IndiaTime Period: UNKNOWN
The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros

Cinemalaya Foundation-UFO Pictures
movie

A 12-year-old gay who comes from a criminal family falls in love with a handsome policeman.

Setting: Manila, PhilippinesTime Period: 2000s
Air Force

Air Force

Warner Bros. Pictures
movie

The crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.

Setting: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, USA; Manila, PhilippinesTime Period: World War II
The Marquis

The Marquis

Pathé
movie

Thomas Gardesse a traveling alarm systems salesman is arrested for a minor offense and sentenced to six months imprisonment. To win the respect of his fellow inmates he claims he is "The Marquis" a brilliant robber…

Setting: Manila, PhilippinesTime Period: 2011

The 10 stories above are just a sample of the 45 in the catalogue for this entry. For the full live catalogue, open Manila in the StoryTerra app. On the live map you can also filter by the exact time the stories take place — any year, decade or century, from BCE to the future.

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