Bullshit every step of the way. I meant cow dung, at the “Bakahan.” Officially, the Padre Garcia Livestock Auction Market. Where thousands of farm animals from different places in the Philippines are hauled in for auction. Referred to as the “Cattle Trading Capital of the Philippines” Padre Garcia reopened the market after a two-month lockdown […]
Read More PICTURES: PADRE GARCIA LIVESTOCK AUCTION MARKETWe stand here together in the patio. For the most part, the stage setting for affairs of the church and the state; of indignation and proclamations. Also of con men and lawmen. Peddlers and beggars. Tarot readers and believers. Looking over, the Minor Basilica of Black Nazarene. We stand together amid social isolation, loneliness, and […]
Read More PLAZA MIRANDAI must have spent summer washing my hands. As well as listening to the race of COVID case-count vs. “ayuda.” The drill goes on till now. Sometimes, I’m out for some photos too. My IATF-given freedom enabled me to move around. In places at a time when only a few would rather be. On March […]
Read More IN PHOTOS: THE SUMMER OF STATE OF EMERGENCYA man walked up to me one day asking for alms. Not the common beggar, he is part of a construction crew apparently holed up at the Rizal Memorial Stadium facelift project, mothballed by the lockdown. They were left to fend for themselves, with no other recourse but to beg people. When the city shut […]
Read More THE RISE OF BEGGARSTo have the authority to move around when everyone else is locked down is something. Times like these, I prefer to be out there being of service. If this is war, I’d like to be on the battlefront. These are ambagan days. Besides, nobody wants to be ECQed this long. Being part of the government’s […]
Read More NOTES FROM MANILA’S EMPTY STREETSHome quarantine an ordeal for you? For street photographers, it’s twice the agony. I was aching to see the empty streets of Manila yesterday, and got the opportunity (and legitimate reason) to drive around so. The feel was incredibly eerie. The barren city seemed like a lay of the land unknown to us. Driving was […]
Read More BINTANA PHOTOGRAPHY: WHEN YOU HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD BUT CAN’T GO OUTOn this day in 2008, I started malate.wordpress.com. In glorification of Manila’s finest district: Malate. My adopted battleground. Ironically, today, on this same date, and for an ordinary reason, I am leaving the place. After twelve years of residency. Let me see. I have been to Malolos. I have been to Quezon city. I have […]
Read More HOMELESSNESSThe night before the Taal Volcano eruption, a huge fire broke out at the Legazpi Tower, right across our office building. I joined the crowd of firefighters and usiseros hoping for a photo-journalistic shot of the chaotic scene. I, the social mediaman. Unfortunately, no shot was up for keeps. Not even a facebookable one. I […]
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