AIKA REY
About
Aika Rey is a data journalist with a strong background in in-depth reporting. She led Thibi's data training programs, drawing on a decade of experience at the intersection of journalism, data, and civic engagement. Aika was a multimedia reporter for Philippine news site Rappler, where she worked on a data-driven road safety campaign that received international recognition at the 2018 Data Journalism Awards. She also served as a producer for NPR's Manila bureau, contributing to its Asia Pacific coverage.
Aika learned coding, mapping, and visualization at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism through the Lede Program for Data Journalism. When she isn't working with data, Aika finds joy in building miniature houses and getting lost in science fiction.
Location
Currently based in Singapore
Available for data journalism jobs around APAC
Education
Lede Program
Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
AB Political Science
Ateneo de Manila University
Languages
Filipino (Native)
English (Fluent)
French (A2)
Skills & Tools
Data Collection & Analysis
- Python (BeautifulSoup, Requests, Playwright, Pandas, NumPy)
- R (tidyverse, ggplot2)
- Excel & Google Sheets
- Working with APIs
- Working with satellite imagery
Visualization
- Flourish
- Datawrapper
- Mapbox & QGIS
- D3.js
- Tableau
Web Development
- JavaScript
- HTML & CSS
- Git & GitHub
- Svelte
Journalism
- Data Journalism
- In-depth Reporting
- Multimedia Journalism
- Interactive Storytelling
Experience
September 2025 — Present
Editorial Coordinator
Lighthouse Reports
Editorial coordinator/data reporter for a cross-border investigation
2023 — 2026
Data Journalist
Thibi.co
Thibi is a data storytelling studio registered in Singapore with a remote team across Asia. I lead Thibi's data journalism training initiatives and oversee Thibi Originals, our newly launched publication.
I have mentored journalists from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and India.
I have mentored journalists from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and India.
2022 — 2023
Producer
NPR
As a producer for the Manila bureau, my main tasks included compiling news advisories around Southeast Asia, contacting resource persons for interviews, conducting research, and writing scripts. I supported NPR’s coverage of US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, Malaysia’s 2022 elections, and Indonesia’s passage of the new criminal code, among others. From time to time, I report breaking news in the Philippines and the Asia Pacific for NPR's hourly newscast, NPR News Now.
2015 — 2022
Multimedia Reporter
Rappler
Rappler is the Philippines' first social news network. Part of Rappler's advocacy is upholding press freedom in the country, leading the fight against fake news online.
I covered the business beat for Rappler, writing about the national budget, infrastructure, transportation, and telco, among others. Before this, I was the reporter assigned to cover the Senate of the Philippines. Apart from writing reports, my tasks include producing videos, in-depth reports, and features on the beats that I cover.
Some notable coverages include the 6-month closure of top tourist destination Boracay Island in 2018 and following Manny Pacquiao on the presidential campaign trail from February to May 2022.
Aside from being a reporter, I also held other roles at Rappler: Community Development Specialist and Researcher/Content Strategist.
In 2017, we went to Tuguegarao in Cagayan province to present our research on what makes the province road crash-prone. After the forum, the highway patrol police drew pedestrian lanes in front of a public school from chalk as an experiment. The crossings across all public schools were later painted by the local government to make the initiative permanent.
My work for #SaferRoadsPH led to the creation of its microsite which won the Data Journalism Website of the Year in the 2018 Data Journalism Awards of the Paris-based Global Editors Network.
I covered the business beat for Rappler, writing about the national budget, infrastructure, transportation, and telco, among others. Before this, I was the reporter assigned to cover the Senate of the Philippines. Apart from writing reports, my tasks include producing videos, in-depth reports, and features on the beats that I cover.
Some notable coverages include the 6-month closure of top tourist destination Boracay Island in 2018 and following Manny Pacquiao on the presidential campaign trail from February to May 2022.
Aside from being a reporter, I also held other roles at Rappler: Community Development Specialist and Researcher/Content Strategist.
In 2017, we went to Tuguegarao in Cagayan province to present our research on what makes the province road crash-prone. After the forum, the highway patrol police drew pedestrian lanes in front of a public school from chalk as an experiment. The crossings across all public schools were later painted by the local government to make the initiative permanent.
My work for #SaferRoadsPH led to the creation of its microsite which won the Data Journalism Website of the Year in the 2018 Data Journalism Awards of the Paris-based Global Editors Network.