Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
$350 - $800 / Day
Martin San Diego is an independent documentary photographer from the Philippines. He is a multiple grantee of the National Geographic Society, a Diversify Photo member, an alumnus of the Angkor Photo Festival Workshops, a Visual Journalism graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University, and a fellow of the Konrad Adanauer Stiftung Media Programme Asia. His work gravitates towards questioning the histories written by colonizers and victors. This is most evident in his ongoing long-term project on Filipino-Muslim youth and their relationship with militancy in Mindanao, southern Philippines. Martin regularly contributes to The Washington Post and VICE News on notable Philippine issues – the Drug War, COVID-19 pandemic, and the environment. Nonprofits such as International Committee of the Red Cross and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees regularly commission him for missions in Mindanao. Martin is a co-founder of Campus Journalism Lab. He graduated with a degree in Computer Science from De La Salle University in 2013. Martin is available for assignments and engagements in Asia and beyond.
The piece I made follows 2 Filipino Muslims and details the thought process, and motivations why youth take the path of insurgency. The main drivers that came out were deeply-rooted frustrations, historical grievances, poor governance that Filipino Muslims have gone through for decades.
Produced for Rappler
As strong winds and heavy rain brought by Tropical Storm Urduja (Kai-tak) pounded Tacloban City on Saturday, December 16, Janet Romulon left the evacuation center and hurried back home. She was worried about her 3 dogs.
On 20 June, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, marked World Refugee Day by distributing core relief items and clothes to families displaced by the Marawi conflict. The commemoration comes on the heels of the first anniversary of the five-month conflict, which saw the displacement of nearly 360,000 individuals.
"I promised my surrenderers that none of them will die," Renato said one December morning in 2016 as he checked the identity of a slain man accused of peddling illegal drugs in his community. With an average of 33 deaths per day in the drug war, Renato's promise to his wards would seem unrealistic. But as the name of Renato's village in Quezon City, Philippines, there is "new hope."
Philippines' Marawi City came under siege on May 2017 when ISIS-inspired militant groups attempted to occupy the city. The battle for the city's liberation lasted for five months, and along its course were families displaced and homes destroyed. Over a year after, the city, and the residents who once lived in it, still have no concrete idea about their fate.
Produced for The Washington Post
Photographed healthcare workers at the frontlines of the Philippines' campaign against COVID-19
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