“Corruption is paid by the poor.”
— Pope Francis
Introduction:
The Commonwealth of Hintuwan presents itself as a democracy whose great families manage its lands for the people's benefit, with its chosen President in Chalet Rojo merely the first among equals. Yet the expansive, almost dictatorial powers those who hold his office have accumulated since the overthrow of the previous tyrant Cagalangan in the '80s contradict fictions so polite. One need not look any further than the army enforcing the power over the peasantry with an iron fist, or the policemen leaving behind them dissidents' empty homes to see how gripped the country continues to be by the word of its premier. All the while, the Commonwealth's would-be nobles masquerade as industrial capitalists, hire private armies, and lord over their fiefdoms in provinces scarcely attended-to by the central government: where God seems absent and Haijing far away. One has to wonder, does a dictator really rule Hintuwan? Or is the problem that his kumpares rule too much for him? Everyday - in the sleepy sun-soaked province of Tasikrong - the farmer, the foreman, the traffic-enforcer, the city councilor, the small business owner, and journalist ask themselves this very question as they watch another mass grave dug up from under the soil of the Mahadit Rainforest on their way to work while wondering whether the next breath they breathe will be their last.
Is it really paranoia when your own local government is actually out to get you? For nearly a decade, Batrieng political dynasty has installed family member after family member as governor under the ignorant eyes of the League of Christian-Muslim Constitutionalists (LCMC) - siphoning money from the public coffers to buy inland family-owned farms, which earned them bigger and bigger shares of the vibrant rubber tree industry which in time became (at least within the country) almost entirely exclusive to their dominion. This rubber was processed, packaged, and sent abroad through the port-city of Chico for consumption by the rubber-hungry militaries of the Southern Sea and The Western Isles - earning tariffs which of course were also funneled into personal bank accounts of the Batriengs through an assortment of money-laundering schemes devised by their allies in the national parliament. Some of these schemes involved setting up fake businesses in neighboring countries in the Southern Sea, and the Batriengs were not above bribing the occasional securities inspector or embassy-worker to acquire the necessary paperwork to do so. More money meant more available campaign funds, which of course, only precipitated the cycle.
For the most part all was going well for the Batriengs until December 2017, when their aggressive drive for even more inland territory led to armed confrontations between their military contractors and the local Abo-abuhan tribes - progenitors of the Hintuwan designated as indigenous peoples, whose lands were protected from being touched by humanitarian law. The Batriengs exerted their influence in Haijing once more, the laws were "re-interpreted" by the Supreme Court, and while a few Hintuwani citizens were outraged the fact was that there was simply very little they could do to affect the inevitable outcome. The Tasikrong Abo-abuhan may have begun waging a protracted war against the local government as a result of their maltreatment, but it would take more than that for the Batriengs to give up an empire took them so long and so much to achieve.
Trouble began in earnest on March 15th, 2021, when the dynasty's padre de pamilya Payakareik Batrieng was appointed Vice President by the Commonwealth's president Henry Theodore Bulalacao after the former's predecessor resigned due to health concerns. Payakareik, who was serving as Governor of Tasikrong at the time, was succeeded in his local post by his son-in-law - Tuapor Langpok - who at the time was serving as Vice Governor. While Langpok was a trusted friend of the family, his relationship with the Batriengs turned sour as soon almost as he assumed his new position. Langpok continued Payakareik Batrieng's governing policy and initially inherited the whole Tasikrong cabinet intact from his father-in-law who expected him to take his advice while running the provincial government; but Langpok soon grew frustrated with his father-in-law's control and thus began appointing officials who were more loyal to him than the Batrieng family.
During the opening ceremony of the newly-constructed Dr. Nathan Iskannom port of Pagagos on February 9th, 2022, Langpok criticized the national government for breaking its promise of building a new airport in Chico while Payakareik Batrieng was trying to deliver his own speech. Vice President Batrieng felt embarrassed by the action of his son-in-law and promptly walked out of the stage in the middle of his speech, which was reported by the press (who caught the entire scene on camera) as the sign of a growing rift between the local authorities in Tasikrong and the national government. The Hintuwani public, still reeling over the December 2021 Salampatihan Christmas Day attacks, promptly responded with fear, outrage, and panic. Fear of increased violence in an already blood-soaked corner of the Commonwealth. Outrage that people with such great responsibilities in government would put their petty squabbles over issues of national importance. Panic at the notion that the Abo-abuhan may seize the chaos to launch an offensive to take back their lost lands.
The schism has been dubbed by the papers as, "The Batrieng Affair".
The most recent development in the situation of this affair occurred on July 1st of this very year - in the morning of which the Attorney General of Hintuwan, Rambo Mozart Nankme, called a press conference announcing that its Quick Reaction Unit (QRU) has taken into protective custody a whistleblower designated Witness F who possesses sufficient enough evidence implicating the Batriengs as perpetrators of a crime empire to warrant an independent investigation by the Office of the Attorney General. If the allegations are proven true, they could endanger the careers of dozens if not hundreds of public officials both at home and across the Western Isles - attachés, businessmen, and private individuals who may have either knowingly or unknowingly participated in what the Batriengs had been instigating all these years. Though Langpok has been silent about his in-law's criminal activities, many speculate he will scapegoat his wife's family at the first chance he gets. If these allegations disappear on the other hand, the Batriengs will spare no traitor from the carnage they will almost certainly unleash.
Whichever the case, one thing is for certain: there is something very wrong with Hintuwan. While ordinary citizens go about their day, paramilitary activities target members of the indigenous people's community, financial crimes go unnoticed, and suspicious activities take place in foreign embassies. The players in this game, in which the pawns are the lives of innocent people, are evidently interested in Hintuwan for something, or perhaps something greater than the Commonwealth itself. Which of them will prevail and which of them will be exposed to protect the interests of the other players, only time will tell.
Roleplay Rules:
- You must state your intentions in the OOC, be a member of The Western Isles, and have a spot on the map in order to participate.
- No godmodding.
- OP's word is law.
