The Bureau of Parahuman Affairs
The Bureau of Parahuman Affairs, commonly referred to as BOPA, is a department of the government of the Philippines specialising in suppression and control of villainous parahumans, as well as the management and support of the government sanctioned national hero team, the Alliance, which consists of several divisions with jurisdictions over different cities.
By definition and policy, BOPA does not directly employ any parahuman employees other than those in the Alliance. According to its mission statement, BOPA represents the interests of unpowered humans, and the employment of parahuman employees would contradict this.
BOPA deploys trained military personnel armed with advanced technology to parahuman fights.
Director Rivera
Carla Theresa Gerona Rivera is the director of the Bureau of Parahuman Affairs. While a controversial figure, she has been the most successful director in the Bureau's history when measured in terms of parahuman crime rates. However, analysis argue that BOPA's responsibilities include the humanisation of parahumans, which was historically done via marketing the Alliance heroes. In August 2026, the Philippine Star reported that sales of Flawless action figures had gone down by 50%, which correlated with the decline in positive sentiment towards parahumans.
Controversies
In 2025, Director Rivera said "the Alliance is a helpful tool in our arsenal, but that's all it is". This statement was criticised for underestimating the value of heroes, especially in Endbringer fights, as well as for dehumanising a cape team led by a inhuman cape (Flawless).Inhumane Interrogation Incident
At 4:24pm local time, the villain Uproot was captured during an attempted heist and knocked unconscious by BOPA forces and taken to the BOPA airbase 25 kilometres outside the Fort. The capture was standard procedure for a cape with area-of-effect and teleportation powers. At 7:39pm, the People's Power (Uproot's team) began a livestream on YouTube, filming an empty warehouse. Exactly one minute later, Uproot teleported themseves and the surrounding BOPA officers into the warehouse. At the time of teleportation, Uproot was tied to a chair which had been knocked to the ground, and each of the officers were kicking Uproot in the head and chest. The beating lasted a few seconds before the officers realised they had been teleported and were being filmed.
It is believed that Uproot allowed themself to be captured in order to expose the cruelty of BOPA's operation. The BOPA officers that beat Uproot was fired and later criminally charged. Director Rivera received public calls to resign, but she denied any intention of leaving the organisation, saying, "It comes at a great shock to me that such violence was going unchecked in my own staff. I am taking this very seriously, and no one is better equipped than me to perform the necessary policy changes and organisational restructure."
Official portrait, 2024