Famous Filipino Media Personalities

Maine Mendoza is a Filipino television personality and actress. She is best known for playing Yaya Dub in the popular TV variety show, Eat Bulaga! Over the years, Maine Mendoza has won several awards, such as the Metro Manila Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress, which she won for her performance in the 2015 movie My Bebe Love: #KiligPaMore.

Known for her legal expertise and her resolve to fight corruption, Miriam Defensor Santiago also became the first Filipina and the first from an Asian developing country to serve as a judge of the International Criminal Court. The senator was also a Ramon Magsaysay Award recipient and died of lung cancer.

Marcelo H. del Pilar was a Filipino lawyer, writer, freemason, and journalist. Along with Graciano López Jaena and José Rizal, Del Pilar became known in Spain as the leaders of the Reform Movement. He is considered the Father of Philippine Journalism for his 66 editorials and 150 essays. He is also regarded as the Father of Philippine Masonry.

Filipino-American journalist and author Maria Ressa is the co-founder and CEO of Rappler, an online news website. She was a lead investigative reporter in Southeast Asia for CNN for almost two decades.  A court in Manila found her guilty of cyber libel in 2020. This move was condemned by human rights activists as an attack on press freedom. 

Nick Joaquin was a Filipino journalist and writer. He is best remembered for his novels and short stories written in the English language. Counted among the most prominent Filipino writers of all time, Nick Joaquin was the recipient of many prestigious awards such as the National Artist Award and Ramon Magsaysay Award for Literature.

Carlos P. Romulo was a Filipino statesman, diplomat, journalist, soldier, and author. He is best remembered for his service as the Minister of Foreign Affairs on three occasions between 1950 and 1984. Among several other important posts, he also held the office of the Secretary of Education from 1965 to 1967. Romulo was the recipient of numerous honors and awards.

Amado V. Hernandez was a Filipino labor leader and writer. He is best remembered for his participation in the communist movement, for which he was arrested and imprisoned. Amado V. Hernandez criticized the social injustices in the Philippines through his writings and often included his experiences as a labor leader and as a guerrilla in his socio-political novels.

Richard Gomez is a Filipino actor, director, television presenter, épée fencer, and politician. He is best known for his service as the Mayor of Ormoc from 2016 to 2022. He achieved popularity as a fencer in 2005, when he won a gold medal at the Southeast Asian Games. Gomez has also won many acting honors, including several Gawad Urian Awards.

A former broadcast journalist, Loren Legarda was known for anchoring shows such as The World Tonight, before she stepped into politics and rose to be the President pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines. The former senator is also a prominent environmental activist.

Isabelo de los Reyes, also known as Don Belong, was a prominent Filipino politician and activist who co-founded the independent Philippine church Iglesia Filipina Independiente. A labor leader and author, too, he served as the senator of the Philippines. He also wrote extensively on folklore, religion, and history.