Taking place at present times, Tribu tells the story of street life in the slums of Tondo, Manila, a lower class suburb in the northwest portion of the city of Manila. The film is told from the viewpoint of a young ten-year-old boy named Ebet who We follow as he witnesses the deadly lives of teen age gang members in Tondo and the events that lead to their explosive confrontation. The film follows Ebet who witnesses three youths being initiated into the Thugz Angels gang. In the opening sequence of the film, the 10-year-old boy explains the genesis of the tribes. They exist, he says, because the children are poor. They are poor because they or their parents lack jobs. In Tondo, the boy says, you have to be tough or you die. Even a child needs to be tough. But in the hell that is Tondo, he says, even a child can be God.
The Thugz Angels tribe members chance upon a blood-soaked body of a member of another gang. Police arrest a Thugz Angels member for the murder. The murdered teen is a member of the Sacred Brown Tribe, whose leaders vow to avenge their fallen member. They learn that Diablos gang members killed the SBT neophyte. During the wake, SBT members forge a reluctant alliance with the Thugz Angels, and assemble to raid the Diablos lair. The dangerous unlit streets and labyrinthine alleyways in the ghetto district of Tondo in Manila, serves as a claustrophobic backdrop to a random killing that triggers a wild and bloody gang war
The Diablos are older, more experienced, and confident of their fighting prowess. They know that they are being targeted for revenge and prepare accordingly. Ebet lurks throughout the story, an enigma that is part innocent child and cynical adult. His loyalties are a mystery, and all that is clear to us is his love for his drug-addicted mother.
Who do we witness the underworld through?
Ebet