Honored and humbled to be selected as one of the regional winners of @worldpressphoto for Long term Projects in Southeast Asia and Oceania.
Death of a Nation is a project of 6 years, witnessing crime scenes to funerals and the life that comes after for the families of war on drugs victims in the Philippines.
The jury perspective: “The drug war in the Philippines is a topic that the jury has seen tackled numerous times, however this project resonated as a slow, subtle, underreported perspective. The images show survivors of the detritus as well as their profound grief– apparent on the many faces of the people pictured. The photographer made intentional intimate choices and centered the experiences of families. She successfully highlights the consequences of the country's last regime, and demonstrates how the social fabric of the Philippines is forever altered.”
Many thanks to those who helped me along the way, friends and mentors, and most especially the families who have opened their hearts to this project.
Link is in my bio to see the full slide.
#WPPh2023
I remember the first time I heard it, the sound of glass breaking. I was looking for somebody else when in front of the old house there was a wake, and I asked. They said no to an interview but proceeded to tell me.
Shielded by a tent from the afternoon sun, in between a casket and jeepneys passing by, the woman, a cousin of the victim, spoke of what happened—how the night started normal until there were screams. Then blood. Then tears. And we were just a couple of steps away from where it took place. This was in 2016 and there are many stories like this, and more so undocumented in the years that followed. My work feels tiny at times but grateful for these spaces as a conduit so the stories I’ve been entrusted with could perhaps resonate. 🪡
Please check out these conversations about Death of a Nation, my long-term project on the shattering of Philippine democracy through the experiences of the families of war on drugs victims.
The article is on @artasiapacific / Documenting a lasting heartbreak and about being the first? Filipino recipient of @eugenesmithfund , 🖊️ @ellekaie . Thank you Lk and Katya Guerrero @luzvimindaphoto@123pioneerstudios for the discussion and Luis for helping me with the prints.
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🎥 The clip is from VII Insider @theviiacademy@viifoundation with @photowings . New Voices and the #VIIMentorProgram with @davidc7 and @ilvynjio . @viiphoto
In the presentation, I included my ambag in the making of si Kian of @pcijstoryproject , What we talk about when we talk about when we talk about the “war on drugs” curated by @karlfmcastro in @areteateneo and the album cover for @oplankolateral of Sandata. It’s a 55 minute watch and you’ll need to register for access. 🤳🎵 Umbral De Tinieblas // 🕯️
maraming salamat po. 💕
Links are in my bio. 🌘
#everydayeverywhere
On my way to the first crime scene, I was looking at the moon. I thought the night was beautiful as I step on grass and broken glass to photograph a man killed by the police on the side of the train tracks. He was unidentified and the next couple of days, there were more. Then the days became weeks, then months, and now, years. The war on drugs was only supposed to last six months. For the families of those who were killed, it's an ongoing nightmare.
I am humbled to announce that my project "Death of a Nation" is one of this year's W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund grantees along with @lalodealmeida@rogelblanquet@melissalyttle@nico.filipporosso . I’ve always felt a little discomfort sharing this kind of news regarding my work as the stories behind my images are never happy, but I'm truly honored to be part of W. Eugene Smith’s legacy. I’m looking forward to completing this project with the invaluable support of @eugenesmithfund .
Documenting the war on drugs has broken and remade me into a photographer I never even dared to imagine. It wasn’t death that haunted me but the burden of grief and impunity. It took a while but slowly, I began to see hope through communities built amongst families of victims. I’ll always be grateful to the mothers, widows, and orphans who have opened their hearts and allowed me to document their stories, to advocates who have mobilized to offer them support, and to friends who’ve been the pillars of my sanity in the last couple of years.
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As a child, my memories of Kapitangan start before daybreak. My parents would wake us up at 2am to ride at the back of a truck along with some relatives to attend church, not the mass, but to hear the Pabasa and touch the feet of the statue of Jesus in the altar with our towels and handkerchief. There’s a line, you see. My mother would then buy a couple of bottles of coconut oil, blessed by the church and we’d be home as the sun rise. What follows is witnessing the flagellation procession at my aunt’s home. I’ve only started photographing the crucifixion as an adult, but it still mesmerizes me to see that it’s happening in my hometown. Near my aunt’s house they started a new tradition of crucifixion, and she’s invited me for lunch, but I decided to go to Kapitangan today with my #SX70 and some expired film to witness, once again, for Precy Valencia get nailed to the cross. Those few minutes of anticipation, I wanted to shout “Ipako sa krus!”, as I did before but I’m too shy and dehydrated this time. I wish my scanner is working. That’s all.
2025 was the year of goals and setbacks, connections and new friendships, madness and clarity. Hoping 2026 would be kinder, perhaps something extra ordinary. Happy New Year! 🎆
“The magic of a dance is something purely accidental. The irony of this is that you have to work harder than anyone else for the accident to occur. Then, when it happens, it is the only thing in your life guaranteed never to happen again. This, to some, is an unhappy state of affairs, and yet to others, it is the only ecstasy. Perhaps, then, you should forget everything I have said to you and remember only this: The real beauty in life is that beauty can sometimes occur.”
Dancer, Colum McCann
Ballet Manila, 2015
9 years ago this November, I thought of you as a god, until you signed my books on the first page, some even underneath the blurbs 😂
Then I shattered like a comma in the sea of a never ending paragraph.
It always feels like whenever I pick up a book of yours and manage to get halfway through the labyrinth it was as if it was the precise moment that I needed to read it, another landmark perhaps. Just like when I dreamt of meeting you one day and it came true for me within months, in 2016. Parang Book Depository lang, another one I miss even if I am always hesitant in buying brand new books.
One day I’ll maybe record a song inside a cathedral to make up for my out of pitch half forgotten lyrics and fulfill a promise to a girl I could not find anymore. Thank you, R. Negado for the poem. Grateful for being reminded of the wilderness 🦅
I actually have a selfie with MVL forced to smile at the camera and so close to me but I can’t find it anymore. I guess my memories will do.❤️🔥
Portraits of #MarioVargasLlosa in Manila in 2016. May you live forever in people’s imagination.
