MANILA — The former president of the Philippines had been arrested on corruption charges. The chief justice of the Supreme Court had been impeached. Transportation workers were threatening to gridlock the city with a strike.

But People’s Tonight had the scoop: A child had been stabbed while its mother slept nearby.

“She screamed as she saw her child’s cradle dripping with blood,” the newspaper’s front-page story said. “With trembling hands, the mother pulled out the blade and scooped her mangled kid in her arms.”

Welcome to the world of Manila’s tabloid newspapers.

With names like Bulgar — the Filipino word for “vulgar” — and Police Files Tonite, more than 40 Manila newspapers publish in both the format and spirit of classic tabloid journalism. They offer readers a dizzying assortment of sex, violence, gore, celebrity scandal, strange news, spirited opinion and personal advice.

A quick scan through the Manila tabloids shows a victim of a motorcycle accident, whose head has been severed, lying in a pool of blood on the pavement with no attempt by the publication to mask the gore. Photos of scantily clad men and women, and some photos of completely nude women, sit alongside columns by priests, senior government officials and mayors.