Experience

Harvard University

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Nieman Fellow for Journalism

  • Aug 2023 - Present



GMA Network, Inc.

• Broadcast Media Production and Distribution
• 700 & Above Employee

• Sr. Assistant Vice President, News and Public Affairs Digital Media

  • Mar 2021 - Jun 2023

  As head of digital media for the Philippines' top news organization, I oversaw the editorial operations of GMA Network's news website, along with digital video and social media publishing for more than 180 million followers and subscribers across all major platforms.I led GMA News and Public Affairs Digital Media into being the top source of information for Filipinos online, according to the University of Oxford/Reuters Institute Digital Media Report. I spearheaded the development and launch of Cover Stories, an award-winning multimedia magazine platform. My team also launched a wide range of original digital shows, including GMA News Feed, mobile-friendly breaking news videos; Need to Know, an explanatory journalism series distilling complex issues into easy-to-understand animations; Stand for Truth, a pioneering mobile journalism newscast for millennial and Gen Z viewers; The Mangahas Interviews, featuring hard-hitting conversations led by veteran journalist Malou Mangahas; and The Howie Severino Podcast, featuring GMA News and Public Affairs pillar Howie Severino and guests on riveting interviews; and Surprise Guest with Pia Arcangel, the network's newest digital program featuring fun conversations with a twist.Our projects have been showcased at international events, leading me to share my experiences and insights to top media managers from the region and around the world. I have been invited to speak at the Video Business Accelerator Program of the Facebook Journalism Project and the International Center for Journalists; and the Korean Press Foundation Journalism Conference, among other forums. Show less

• Assistant Vice President, News and Public Affairs Digital Media

  • Oct 2017 - Mar 2021



GMA News Online

• Editor-in-Chief

  • Sep 2015 - Jun 2023

  I was only 32 years old when he became top editor of GMA News Online in 2014. I quickly had to figure out how to manage a newsroom full of grizzled veterans, while mapping out the organization's strategy in the digital world. Since I took over the network’s digital assets, the platforms under my watch saw explosive growth: GMA News Online’s website traffic doubled in my first month on the job/Aside from increasing reach and engagement of news stories, I worked on journalism innovation to increase the impact of our storytelling. I spearheaded the development and launch of Cover Stories, a multimedia storytelling platform for investigative reports and special features. The platform integrates longform feature writing, high-resolution photography, digital video, and interactive elements to put together unforgettable stories.Since its launch in 2018, Cover Stories have been shortlisted for nine prizes at the prestigious Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Awards for Editorial Excellence, the most of any Philippine news publication in the period. GMA News Online has won four top prizes and two honorable mentions during that span.I personally oversaw every project published for Cover Stories, giving editorial, technical, art direction, and “final cut” on every story. Show less

• Executive Editor

  • Jun 2014 - Sep 2015



TV5

• Managing Editor, InterAKTV.ph

  • Jul 2011 - Jun 2014

  After gaining renown with the award-winning sports blog FireQuinito.com, I served as managing editor for InterAKTV, the pioneering sports website of InterAksyon.com, the news portal of TV5. I also served as a consulting producer for the Philippine Basketball Association broadcast of the network. I helped redefine sports journalism in the Philippines, which had been previously stuck in the old ways. I also helped usher the sports media landscape into the digital age. Before my stint in sports, coverage in the Philippines consisted of little more than game recaps and columns filled with blind-item gossip about basketball players' extramarital affairs and rivalries between players. The popularity of my sports coverage made me a constant guest on television and radio. I also spoke on the topic The Future of Philippine Sports at the TEDxDiliman event in 2012. With the sheer force of my sportswriting, I also created the concept for Manila Clasico to describe the longtime rivalry between the Ginebra and Purefoods franchises. Today, the Manila Clasico is considered the crown jewel event for the PBA. Thanks in no small part to my work, a whole generation of ambitious sports journalists has sprouted up in the Philippines, young writers who are pursuing investigative pieces about local sports and who are creating their own tradition of long-form narrative journalism. Show less



Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

• Online Media
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Platform Architect

  • May 2009 - Jul 2011

  I left a lucrative job in tech to pursue journalism in 2009. I approached the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). making the offer: “I will work on your technology, but please teach me how to become a journalist.”I overhauled the PCIJ website, enabling its social media strategies, and setting up the organization for relevance in the post-newspaper era. PCIJ’s digital strategy was enabled for new forms of storytelling: more data, more infographics, more multimedia.Months into my tenure, the Maguindanao Massacre happened, claiming the lives of 58 people, including 33 media workers. I was among the PCIJ team formed to spring into action. I was directed to join a mission of international journalists and advocates to meet with families of victims. It also led to my first taste of field coverage in Mindanao, as I reported on the scene in Maguindanao days after the massacre.I was part of the PCIJ team that was awarded the Kate Webb Award for Exemplary Journalism by Agence France-Presse in 2009, largely due to the work the organization had done in the aftermath of the Maguindanao Massacre.In 2010, I wrote and produced Murder in Paradise, a documentary on another journalist killing, this time of radio broadcaster Gerry Ortega in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Over the next two years, I conducted training sessions on digital journalism for editors and reporters in the Philippines and the ASEAN region. This included two seminars for members of Mizzima News, Burmese journalists exiled in Thailand, on digital safety and digital publishing.Along the way, I wrote investigative reports and features covering, among other stories, the death of former President Corazon Aquino; the 2010 Philippine national elections; Typhoon Ondoy and its aftermath; and a series on corruption in the military. I was also part of two books published by the PCIJ on campaign finance and election reform. Show less

• Associate Multimedia Producer

  • May 2009 - Jul 2011



Safeway

• Retail
• 700 & Above Employee

• Service Delivery Manager

  • Sep 2008 - May 2009



GMA New Media, Inc.

• Online Media
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Product Development Manager

  • Nov 2004 - May 2008