AARON FAVILA

Associated Press
Devotees hold an evening procession with statues depicting the life and sufferings of Jesus Christ as part of their lenten practice to mark Holy Wednesday in Paete, Laguna province, Philippines, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
AP PHOTOS: Devout in the Philippines mark Holy Week with flagellations, processions and passion play
Residents watch as costumed men parade the streets and flagellate themselves using whips made of wood. The ritual is frowned upon by the church.
 
US Navy USS Shoup (DDG86), left, and Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) frigate JS Noshiro manuever during the Philippines United States Japan Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity off a disputed South China Sea shoal on Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
US, Japan, Philippines stage navy drills in disputed South China Sea as a Chinese ship keeps watch
The United States, Japan and the Philippines have staged joint naval drills to boost crisis readiness off a disputed South China Sea shoal as a Chinese military ship kept watch from a distance.
 
The crowd dances as they attend a punk festival in Hangzhou, China, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
AP PHOTOS: China’s evolving punk scene draws a new generation of fans
HANGZHOU, China (AP) — Young fans, some sporting spiky mohawks, slam-danced and stage-dived as the music blasted into the night.
 
Qi Guangpo of China competes in the Men's Freeski Aerials at the 9th Asian Winter Games in Yabuli in northeast China's Heilongjiang province on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
AP PHOTOS: Defying gravity and other highlights of the Asian Winter Games
 
This photo provided by U.S. Embassy, Philippines, shows the arrival of Afghan U.S. Special Immigrant Visa Applicants in the Philippines Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (U.S. Embassy, Philippines via AP)
Afghans arrive in the Philippines to complete visa processing for resettlement in US
A group of Afghan nationals have arrived in the Philippines to process special immigrant visas for their resettlement in the United States.
 
Philippine Navy Fast Attack Interdiction Craft Lolinato To-Ong passes by a Chinese Navy ship during a Philippine military multi-service joint exercise on Wednesday Nov. 6, 2024 at Loaita island locally called Kota island at the disputed South China Sea, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Philippine forces retake an island in mock combat as China’s navy watches
Philippine forces have staged drills that included seizing an island in the South China Sea as Chinese navy ships kept watch from a distance. Philippine military chief Gen.
 
Marcelino Aringo speaks near his damaged house after a landslide triggered by Tropical Storm Trami struck homes, leaving several villagers dead in Talisay, Batangas province, Philippines on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
At least 126 dead and missing in massive flooding and landslides in Philippines
The number of dead and missing in massive flooding and landslides in the Philippines has reached nearly 130 and the president says many areas remain isolated.
 
Apollo Quiboloy, a detained Filipino preacher accused of sexual abuse and human trafficking in the Philippines and similar charges in the United States, listens as he attends a senate inquiry at the Philippine Senate on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Arrested Philippine televangelist confronted in the Senate by women he’s accused of sexually abusing
Former followers of an arrested Filipino televangelist confronted him in a Senate hearing Wednesday, accusing him of repeatedly abusing them sexually by portraying the assaults as their religious duty to the “appointed son of God.”
 
A Catholic boy walks towards the church of Saint John the Baptist during the “Taong Putik” or mud people festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
An AP Photographer picked his own path when trying to make the perfect Mud People Festival photo
Aaron Favila has been working for The Associated Press in the Philippines for 26 years, covering everything from politics to crime to sports to disasters to everyday people.
 
Devout Catholics hold dried banana leaves which they will use to cover themselves in, and walk towards the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
AP PHOTOS: Philippine villagers smear mud on their bodies to show devotion to St. John the Baptist
BIBICLAT, Philippines (AP) — It is well before daybreak in Bibiclat, a village in the northern Philippines surrounded by rice fields. Using only light from their cellphones to cut through the darkness, devout Catholics venture into the fields.
 
A resident brings down a sack from his boat at the coastal town of Santa Ana, Cagayan province, northern Philippines on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. The United States and the Philippines, which are longtime treaty allies, have identified the far-flung coastal town of Santa Ana in the northeastern tip of the Philippine mainland as one of nine mostly rural areas where rotating batches of American forces could encamp indefinitely and store their weapons and equipment within local military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, or EDCA. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Sleepy far-flung towns in the Philippines will host US forces returning to counter China threats
After withdrawing from two huge U.S. military bases in the Philippines at the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, American forces are returning and building a new presence in nine sites on Philippine bases under a 2014 defense pact to counter China’s increasingly assertive actions.
 
U.S. troopers in battle gear walk under the scorching sun during a joint military exercise on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, northern Philippines. American, Australian and Filipino forces launched a barrage of high-precision rockets, artillery fire and airstrikes to sink a ship Wednesday as part of largescale war drills in waters facing the disputed South China Sea that has antagonized Beijing. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
US and Philippine forces sink a ship during largescale drills in the disputed South China Sea
U.S. and Philippine forces, backed by an Australian air force surveillance aircraft, have unleashed a barrage of high-precision rockets, artillery fire and airstrikes and sank a mock enemy ship as part of largescale war drills in and near the disputed South China Sea that have antagonized Beijing.
 
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. answers questions during a forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines on Monday, April 15, 2024, in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
The Philippine president says he won’t give US access to more local military bases
The Philippine president says his administration has no plan to give the U.S. military access to more Philippine army sites.
 
In this image made from video provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4, center, is hit by two Chinese coast guard water canon blasts, causing injuries to multiple crew members as they tried to enter the Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin Shoal, in the disputed South China Sea, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels collided in the disputed South China Sea and multiple Filipino crew members were injured in high-seas confrontations Tuesday as Southeast Asian leaders gathered for a summit that was expected to touch on Beijing's aggression at sea. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)
China coast guard flexes its might against the Philippines in disputed waters as journalists watch
It was a heart-pounding moment far out in the disputed South China Sea: One of at least five Chinese coast guard ships aggressively approached and sideswiped a Philippine patrol ship, creating a loud, jarring noise that sent its Filipino crew scrambling to lower rubber fenders to cushion the boat’s
 
A Chinese coast guard boat moves near the Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 (in green) after it was hit by their water canon blast causing injuries to multiple crew members as they tried to enter the Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin Shoal, in the disputed South China Sea Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels collided in the disputed South China Sea and multiple Filipino crew members were injured in high-seas confrontations Tuesday as Southeast Asian leaders gathered for a summit that was expected to touch on Beijing's aggression at sea. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
The Philippines says it won’t let China remove a Filipino military outpost on a disputed shoal
The Philippine navy says it will not allow China to remove a Philippine military outpost in a fiercely disputed South China Sea shoal where four Filipino navy personnel were injured in a confrontation between Chinese and Philippine ships.
 
A man stands under lanterns during an event for the 430th anniversary of Manila's Chinatown, said to be the oldest in the world, at the capital's Binondo district, Philippines on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Crowds are flocking to Manila's Chinatown to usher in the Year of the Wood Dragon and experience lively traditional dances on lantern-lit streets with food, lucky charms and prayers for good fortune. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
AP PHOTOS: Lunar New Year in the Philippines draws crowds to one of the world’s oldest Chinatowns
Lamp posts in Manila’s riverside Binondo commercial district, said to be one of the oldest Chinatowns in the world, feature dragon decor with tails curled around the poles. In a crowded mall, a huge dragon hangs over selfie-taking shoppers.
 
Devotees pull the statue of the Black Nazarene during its annual procession which was resumed after a three-year suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 in Manila, Philippines. A mammoth crowd of mostly barefoot Catholic devotees joined a chaotic procession through downtown Manila Tuesday to venerate a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ with many praying for peace in the Middle East where Filipino relatives work. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Filipino Catholics pray for Mideast peace in massive procession venerating a black statue of Jesus
A massive crowd of mostly barefoot Catholic worshippers has marched in an annual procession in the Philippines’ capital, parading a centuries-old black statue of Jesus.
 
FILE - In this photo provided by the Department of National Defense PAS, ships carrying construction materials are docked at the newly built beach ramp at the Philippine-claimed island of Pag-asa, also known as Thitu, in the disputed South China Sea on June 9, 2020. The Philippine coast guard inaugurated a new monitoring base Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, on a remote island occupied by Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea as Manila ramps up efforts to counter China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the strategic waterway. (Department of National Defense PAS via AP, File)
The Philippines opens a new monitoring base on a remote island in the disputed South China Sea
The Philippine coast guard has opened a new monitoring base on a remote island occupied by Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea as Manila ramps up efforts to counter China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the strategic waterway.
 
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks during the APEC CEO Summit Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
US and Philippines sign a nuclear cooperation pact allowing US investment and technologies
The United States and the Philippines have signed a nuclear cooperation pact under which U.S. investment and technologies are to help the Southeast Asian nation transition to cleaner energy and bolster its power supply.
 
A Philippine supply boat, center, maneuvers around Chinese coast guard ships as they tried to block its way near Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin Shoal, at the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. As a US Navy plane circled overhead, two Philippine navy-manned boats manage to breach through a Chinese coast guard blockade in a dangerous confrontation in the disputed South China Sea and succeeded in delivering food and other supplies to Filipino forces guarding a contested shoal on board BRP Sierra Madre. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Philippine supply boats breach a Chinese coast guard blockade in the hotly contested South China Sea
Two Philippine boats breached a Chinese coast guard blockade in a confrontation in the South China Sea to deliver food and other supplies to Filipino forces guarding a contested shoal.
 
Students hold class under trees because the school was converted into a temporary evacuation center at Malilipot town, Albay province, northeastern Philippines, Thursday, June 15, 2023. Thousands of residents have left the mostly poor farming communities within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius of Mayon's crater in forced evacuations since volcanic activity spiked last week. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Students meet under trees as schools shelter villagers displaced by Philippine volcano
Nearly 20,000 people have fled from an erupting volcano in the Philippines and are sheltering in schools, disrupting the education of thousands of students.
 
Mayon Volcano is seen from Guinobatan, Albay province, northeastern Philippines, Monday, June 12, 2023. The Philippines' most active volcano was gently spewing lava down its slopes Monday, alerting tens of thousands of people they may have to quickly flee a violent and life-threatening explosion. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Lava pours from crater of Philippines’ Mayon Volcano, thousands warned to be ready to flee
Lava is pouring from the crater of the Philippines’ most active volcano, prompting officials to warn tens of thousands of villagers to be prepared to flee if the gentle eruption turns into a violent and life-threatening explosion.
 
A farmer ties his cow as they bring them to a pooling center outside the 6-kilometer "permanent danger zone" near Mayon Volcano in Daraga, Albay province, northeastern Philippines, Sunday, June 11, 2023. Thousands of villagers have been forced to leave rural communities within a 6-kilometer radius of Mayon volcano's crater in Albay province. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Most active Philippine volcano spews lava, locals ready to evacuate in event of explosion
The Philippines’ most active volcano has begun spewing lava in a gentle eruption and tens of thousands of people have been told to be ready to evacuate from their homes should there be a violent explosion.
 
Philippine volcano simmers, officials brace for long crisis
Philippine officials say they’re bracing for a long crisis whether the Taal volcano erupts more disastrously or simmers precariously for weeks or months, as massive numbers of displaced villagers languish in emergency shelters.
 
Philippine city mayor gunned down during flag-raising event
Philippine police say a mayor who paraded drug suspects in public but was alleged to have drug ties himself was shot and killed during a flag-raising ceremony in front of horrified employees.
 
AP PHOTOS: Upgrade may dethrone Manila’s ‘King of the Road’
A remnant of World War II, the gaudily decorated jeepneys evolved from the U.S. military jeeps that American forces left behind after the war.
 
Duterte visits synagogue to apologize for Hitler remark
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte visited a synagogue in the Manila metropolis to personally apologize to the Jewish community for making a “terribly wrong” comparison between his anti-drug campaign and Hitler and the Holocaust.
 
AP PHOTOS: Trapeze sends Filipinos flying high
“You can’t explain the feeling that you’re up there. The fear of falling, the fear of everything. It’s like an adrenalin rush,” the 29-year-old said, admonishing a visitor: “You should try it.”