Baganga, Davao Oriental

I love shooting videos and acknowledge the power and beauty of the platform. But I am a photographer and will always be one at the end of the day. I badly miss being just a photographer (at RHU Cateel)

Cateel. First day of 2013

December 28, 2012. Brgy. Manggayon, Compostela Town. Matigsalog Manobo children convey a heartfelt thanks to artist Avid Liongoren whose donation for the #pabloph victims will go to buying materials for building a temporary school structure in time for the January 14 opening of classes. Thank you, Avid. You just gave the indigenous people an enormous lift to get back their lives

Happy birthday to the sweetest sister a guy could ever ask for. I love you sweetie, sorry I couldn’t be there for your birthday. I promise to give you another one once I get back. @noellejavellana

Thank you Canon, for having the heart to support us independent journalists and filmmakers. You guys are the best

The start of a new day for a New People’s Army fighter. The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines which commemorated their 44th founding anniversary somewhere in the typhoon ravaged province of Compostela Valley.

I do not know if I am blessed or cursed. But I am damn happy either way. @ang_kiri @patevangelista

The stories here all sound depressingly hopeless. I am hoping for aid as much as the people do here. For them. I have no agency, no income, no output other than social media. I’m not even sure if anybody can hear me as I try to voice out the circumstances of the victims here. Yes, I may have been that kind of photographer but who cares what colleagues think of you at this time when there is something much greater than your reputation or other whatnots others are so concerned about? Yet I have never felt so alive and so free. Because of their resilience, their kindness and their views on life. I honestly think that they are helping me more than I could be able to help them.

Christmas Eve. A family solemnly share a meal of relief goods in an evacuation center in Brgy. Cabinuangan, New Bataan, Compostela Valley.

I had to go through a lot of hell just to get back to this hellish place. But somewhere along the road came the most pleasant of surprises. A student, accompanied by his father, equipped with his camera and hopeful eyes, randomly comes up to me at the airport tells me that he wanted to be a photojournalist too one day. Just for today, I will forget that we are a dying breed

Christmas did come early for us who’ll be spending it working on the field. It’s tough enough that we rarely get funding for what we do, but it’s great to know that a company like Canon backs us independent journalists and filmmakers as well. Thanks for supporting what we do

906 Confirmed dead, 932 are still missing as of December 14, 2012.

A total of 149,748 damaged houses
were reported in Regions I, IV-B, VI, VII, X,
XI, XII and CARAGA. Of which 88,925 were partially damaged while 60,823 were totally damaged.

The estimated cost of damages to properties is
P15,116,602,128.05: infrastructure P5,370,849,200.00; agriculture
P9,696,793,515.05; private properties
P48,959,413.00.

Please continue to help the victims of Pablo.

Isla Poo in Baganga has been totally devastated and has not been reached by any media or relief. Calling out friends from NGO’s and journalists to give this particular area the attention it desperately needs

Compostela Valley and the Caraga region totally devastated. Capitaan, Baganga upto Boston equally as bad. They desperately need our support and I personally have not seen anything except for what the president brought in today. Where are the NGO’s and other groups that make it their advocacy to help victims in such situations? I can’t even suggest an NGO or group that people can donate to because I don’t see any at all. People here are starting to feel neglected. I have never asked anybody to share or repost any of my photos but given the situation I’ve seen here; if it is the only small thing you could do as a human being to help out, kindly do so. (at Compostela, Compoatela Valley)

The kids are safe from typhoon #Pabloph! I am currently the happiest guy in the world. Thank you @dingusg and @ang_kiri. You guys are heroes!

I miss New York

Anelfa Gemilo from the B’laan tribe. She is in search for justice for Juvy Capion who was slain on October 18, 2012 along with her two children Jordan and John by alleged members of the military. Juvy was a community leader involved in a campaign against Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) which is accused of exploiting natural resources on the ancestral lands of the B’laan people. All of them sustained multiple gunshot wounds to their heads and bodies. Jordan’s skull was broken in half. Juvy was three months pregnant when she was killed. They are survived by 4-year old Vicky who survived and witnessed the massacre.

Adelfa Belayong from Kinaymaybay in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur. Wife to Datu Mampaagi Belayong, a highly respected leader of the Higaonon community, killed in 2009. Sister to Datu Arpe Belayong, member of the local Higaonon organization Linundigan, killed in 2010. The two were slain by alleged paramilitary groups after they refused to sign a Free, Prior and Informed Consent contract (FPIC) that will voluntarily surrender their land to mining operations. Now her life is also under threat.