This species inhabits shallow muddy puddles and pools near small forest streams and is occasionally found in gentle stream sections and is apparently purely aquatic. It is a species of the forest edge, but not a human commensal of strongly disturbed or dynamic areas. It is found in anthropogenic habitats in the lowlands and occasionally in undisturbed lower montane and lowland forests. The higher elevation form is found in flowing streams (A. Diesmos pers. comm. March 2018). Tadpoles have been seen most often in marshes on the peninsula and in any standing body of available water.

This species was previously reported to occur in Peninsular Thailand (including Phuket) (Taylor 1962, Frith 1977), Peninsular Malaysia (Berry 1975, Dring 1979, Kiew 1987, Manthey and Grossmann 1997), Singapore (including Pulau Bajau) (Lim and Lim 1992), Borneo (Malaysian Borneo (Sarawak and Sabah), Indonesian Borneo (north, east and central Kalimantan), Brunei Darussalam, Tarempah (in the Anambas Archipelago) and Natuna Besar (in the Riau Islands Province of Indonesia)) and all the major islands in the Philippines. However, the distribution of this species has now been restricted to the Philippines, with recent records including Batan (Binaday 2017). It is not known from high elevations (Dring 1979).

All previous records from Indonesia, including Natuna Besar and Indonesian Borneo, and Malaysia are now assigned to Occidozyga sumatrana (Indonesia Red List Assessment Workshop May 2017, Malaysia Red List Assessment Workshop January 2018), including Malaysian Borneo. Records from mainland Southeast Asia (Viet Nam, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Cambodia and monsoon Thailand) are attributed to Occidozyga martensii.

This species is found in many protected areas throughout its range.