Eloisa Lopez
Photographer & Journalist

Info / Contact

INFO & CONTACT 

E / eloisaalopez@gmail.com

M / +639987902681

Eloisa Lopez is a freelance photographer and journalist based in Manila, Philippines. She covers crime, human rights, women and children issues. 

She is also a correspondent for Manila-based news outlet Rappler where she writes breaking news and feature stories on Manila cops, crimes, and daily life. 

She is an honors graduate of De La Salle University Manila where she took up Communication Arts, and worked as a staff photographer for the school newspaper. 

Her work has appeared on The New York Review of Books, TIME (online), The New York Times (online), Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), and Philippine Daily Inquirer—where she was a photo correspondent for two years after college. 

For assignments, inquiries, or story ideas, email at eloisaalopez@gmail.com (that's two a's after the s). 

    INSTAGRAM @eloisalopez

    #Repost @worldpressphoto ・・・ Onlookers watch in horror as forensic investigators process a crime scene at Tondo, Manila on September 28, 2016. Most victims of this drug war reside in slum areas like Tondo, where families live in makeshift homes. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Eloisa Lopez (@eloisalopez), correspondent for Manila-based news outlet, Rappler, will present her current work on children affected by The Philippines' 'war on drugs', as well as talking about the group of photographers covering the story–dubbed 'the nightcrawlers' by some publications–at the World Press Photo Festival on Friday 13 April. Her presenation will be followed by a panel discussion with Luis Liwanag, freelance video and photojournalist and co-director of #WPPh2018 Digital Storytelling Contest nominated production, ‘Duterte’s Hell’ (Short form category). #drugwar #philippines #everydayimpunity
    The chorus of crying mothers and widows over caskets of their beloved sons and husbands is something I have repeatedly heard over the 18 months of Duterte’s drug war. But the unrhythmic cries of these children—the sound like a room of wailing infants—is not one I am used to hear. This is not something common, even in this bloody war. Thirteen-year old Aldrinne Pineda was just hanging out with his friends on the fence of a slaughterhouse in Vitas, Tondo when a masked man roving the area held up his flashlight, aimed towards them and shot the young boy on the side of his body. A friend of Aldrinne was able to help him up, and they walked arm to arm towards the Pinedas’ house as blood dripped over the trash-filled pavement. Aldrinne was brought to the hospital and died during operation. A few days later comes a cop claiming responsibility for the death of the young boy. Suddenly, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope, a reason to take away the chicks atop Aldrinne’s casket that’s supposed to peck on the conscience of his perpetrators. Except here’s how his story goes—PO2 Omar Malinao claims he was roving in the area when Aldrinne and his friends started “teasing” him, “challenging” him to come over when he tripped, fell to the ground, and accidentally pulled the trigger of his gun. It took his office two days to report this to Manila Police District. And yet he is not considered a suspect. #killings #EJK #children #everydayimpunity #philippines
    In the Philippine National Police, female applicants are only alotted 10% of new positions, leaving many aspiring female cops waiting for months, even years to take their oath. Once they’ve managed to break the barrier, the next challenge is to be sent to the field as most policewomen are assigned to do administrative work. Here is Senior Police Officer 3 (SPO3) Marikaye Daquioag in the Women’s Desk of Caloocan Police Station. In her 20 years in service, Daquioag has served majority of her years in the office—delegating tasks, preparing documents, and responding to walk-in complainants. For Women’s Month, I wrote about women in the police force @rappler. Check rappler.com for the full story. #cops #policewomen #women #womensmonth #philippines
    A candle and a cup of beer is left on the spot where Rodolfo Pataueg, 25, was shot and killed by a fellow gambler. Rodolfo’s 21-year old girlfriend Roschelle believes the assailant was paid to kill him. She is now a single mom to two children. #crime #killings #everydayimpunity #philippines
    Editing a story on community rehabs and found this in my files... He was talking to the doctor about his history with drug use. #rehab #drugs
    Quezon City Police District Director Guilermo Eleazar admits not all policemen understood the distinction between the Lower Barrel and the Upper Barrel of PNP’s Oplan Double Barrel, so much so that the term “Tokhang,” has been used “jokingly" to mean “getting killed." “When one is arrested, they say na-Tokhang. When something [bad happens], they say that’s Tokhang. When one threatens, he would say, 'Tokhang-in kita diyan. This is wrong. Tokhang has a very good intention,” Eleazar said. With the relaunch of Tokhang, Eleazar said, the distinction will be clearer because a separate team has been created solely for the "knock and plead” operations: the Tokhangers. #tokhang #tokhangers #police #warondrugs #oplandoublebarrel #philippines
    It was supposed to be the happiest Christmas of Luzviminda Siapo. The reunion had long been planned. Luzviminda and her two kids, Raymart and Isabelle, would finally leave their temporary home in the slums of Navotas. A new life would begin in Cavite, where a gated house awaited the family. Luzviminda would finally enjoy the fruits of her labor in Kuwait where she had toiled for two years. Raymart was promised a Yamaha Mio motor bike, for as long as it cost less than P25,000. Ten-year-old Isabelle would get a new outfit. Yet on December 21, the day Luzviminda was originally scheduled to arrive in Manila, there was neither a grand homecoming, nor two kids to come home to, only Luzviminda and Isabelle in a silent home. ———— Almost every month in 2017, at least one teenager was killed by unidentified assailants or fatally shot in a police operation. These teenagers are tagged either as criminals or “collateral damage” in the Duterte administration's war on drugs. In the last weeks of 2017, I revisited the homes of some of the slain teens and reconnected with the people they left behind. | Full story on the link in my bio. #children #philippines #everydayimpunity
    Almost every month in 2017, at least one teenager was killed by unidentified assailants or fatally shot in a police operation. These teenagers are tagged either as criminals or “collateral damage” in the Duterte administration's war on drugs. In the last weeks of 2017, I revisited the homes of some of the slain teens and reconnected with the people they left behind. | Photo: Liezel Du’s most treasured possessions are these photos of her only child, Charlie Jean Du, who was killed in a police encounter in October 2017. She was 15 and pregnant. | Full story on the link in my bio. #children #philippines #everydayimpunity
    On Bonifacio Day, November 30, President Rodrigo Duterte's supporters gathered to "grant" him the authority to declare a revolutionary government in Mendiola, Manila. The 5000-strong crowd declared in unision, "Kami, ang nakapangyayaring sambayanang Pilipino at kumakatawan sa makapangyarihan na kalooban ng mamamayang Pilipino, ay lubos na nagkakaisa sa kapasyahan at pagpapahayag ng aming kagustuhang gawaran ng pambihirang kapangyarihan si Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte na siyang kinikilala naming Pangulo ng Republika ng Pilipinas." #DU30 #philippines #RevGov
    88DEF29B-611B-4907-B933-DEB41BF2D87E.jpg

    IN THE PRESS

    'Have We Opened the Gates of Hell With Our Images?' / The Atlantic

    Philippines Drug War: Photographers on Most Powerful Images / TIME Online

    EXHIBITIONS / presentations

    2018 World Press Photo Festival / Amsterdam, Netherlands

    2017 Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand / Bangkok, Thailand 

    2017 Prix-Bayeux Festival / Normandy, France 

    2017 ActiveVista / Philippines 

    2017 WARM Festival / Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herezegovina 

    2017 World Council of Churches / Geneva, Switzerland