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Aurora Almendral

Aurora Almendral is a freelance reporter and radio producer based in Manila and New York.

Crowds holding candles and rosaries pray in the week following the Easter Sunday suicide bombings in Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lanka remains wary of more attacks, but churches begin to rebuild

Conflict & Justice

One week after the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, authorities warn that extremists may be planning more attacks, while religious sites are starting to rebuild from the destruction.

A man walks by a large banner that reads "Muslims condemn the senseless killings of innocent Christians at worship in their churches and celebrating Easter Sunday. There's no place in Islam for extremists."

Muslims in Sri Lanka say they feel targeted after bombings

Extremism
A man waves a backhoe as it lifts dirt to drop onto four caskets laid out in a row

Sri Lanka mourns with mass funerals

Yolanda Ampoan is hugged by her children after learning of the death of her son Sandrex Ampo. Ampo was killed by unknown assailant on September 23, 2016 in Punta Sta Ana, Manila.

When half a million drug users surrendered in the Philippines, authorities sent some of them to Zumba

Justice
Jennelyn Olayres hold her husband’s dead body, Michael Siaron, an alleged drug pusher killed by unidentified gunman in Pasay City south of Manila.

The war on drugs in the Philippines is leaving hundreds dead in the streets

Conflict
Jennelyn Olayres hold her husband’s dead body, Michael Siaron, an alleged drug pusher killed by unidentified gunman in Pasay City south of Manila.

The war on drugs in the Philippines is leaving hundreds dead in the streets

Conflict

The Philippines’ new president came to power on a promise to rid the country of criminals and drug addicts. He has said to “kill them all.” And, since he took office at the end of June, more than 600 people have turned up dead.

Brother Paul heads out at night with baggies filled with biscuits for kids, and medicines for adults with HIV. He also distributes clean needles and condoms to those in need.

A Catholic monk in the Philippines defies his church to help people with HIV

Health

The Philippines largely escaped the global AIDS epidemic in the 80s and 90s. But now it has one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world.

Abandoned "ghost nets" take a deadly toll on fish and aquatic ecosystems around the world. The NetWorks program in the Philippines attacks the problem by paying fishermen to haul up old nets and then sends them to Europe and the US to be recycled into com

Philippines project turns ‘ghost’ fishing nets into carpets

Environment

Abandoned fishing nets destroy ecosystems and the livelihoods of fishermen around the world. Now a network of nonprofits is partnering with a for-profit company to recover some of these “ghost nets”in the Philippines and elsewhere and recycle them into carpeting.

A woman in Plaza Miranda, outside Quiapo Church in Manila, sells off her dwindling stock of Pope Francis t-shirts in advance of the Pope's visit to the Philippines.

Filipino Catholics welcome Pope Francis with fervency, hope and souvenir T-shirts

Belief

When Pope Francis holds a Catholic Mass in Manila this weekend, he’s expected to draw up to six million people. But there are conflicting hopes and expectations for what he’ll say to Asia’s most populous Catholic country.

One year after Typhoon Haiyan, about 5,000 people still live in evacuation centers or tents like this one in Sandy Beach, near Tacloban.

A year later, communities are still suffering from Typhoon Haiyan

Development

Typhoon Haiyan caused more damage than the Haiti earthquake or the Indonesian tsunami, displacing 4.1 million people and killing more than 6,300 people in the Philippines. Now a year later, there’s still plenty of work to do for the government and international aid agencies.