People of the Year 2026: Beacons
We honor our National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal today, and train the light on people whose presence, actions or principles make them beacons of our time.
In a year flooded with people who made our jaws drop in disgust and outrage, we look up to people who flood us with light, guidance and direction.
Floodlights, as opposed to those who unleash floods because of substandard or absent infrastructure, illuminate rather than destroy. They light up a wide area.
PeopleAsia magazine’s latest issue, which comes in two flip covers, honors luminaries, who, like beacons and lighthouses, show the way in the darkest of nights and in the stormiest of weathers.
Life in the Philippines is indeed in a social and political storm, clouds of uncertainty hovering low, the waves of poverty lashing mercilessly against the shore. Floods are not just a metaphor for hard times but a consequence of hard times.
Even those with means are dejected. They’re not crying out for themselves, for surely they have more than enough, but for their beloved countrymen.
And yet there are people, like lighthouses, that, without fail, flood the nights of despair with light and give hope in days of doubt. Just by being there. Like light, they are quiet but powerful.
PeopleAsia first started bestowing on luminaries the “People of the Year” awards in 2004, and it continues to do so on its 25th year.
You will find light and inspiration in San Miguel Corp. chairman and CEO Ramon S. Ang, PeopleAsia’s Lifetime Achievement Awardee. He continues to transform and expand the operations of one of the country’s biggest conglomerates. His many business interests, according to Philippine STAR business editor Iris Gonzales, are “a bet on the Philippines—a massive contribution to nation building, as it catalyzes growth and enhances the country’s competitiveness.”
For Ramon Magsaysay awardee Fr. Flavie Villanueva, SVD, the only Filipino recipient this year of the award, Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize, the award isn’t about him. It’s for the homeless, the victims of the war on drugs and every nameless, faceless—and at times hopeless—individual who inspires him to act with both faith and urgency.
Information and Communications Technology Undersecretary David Almirol Jr., the former CEO of Multisys Technologies Corp., a software solutions company, is a self-made tech billionaire who entered public service because he believes that technology doesn’t just make lives easier—it also brings government closer to the people.
Designer Francis Libiran uses his talent for design—of designer clothes and furniture—into an endeavor that generates happy clients and jobs for his artisans. He is beacon in the fashion industry.
Dr. Hayden Kho Jr. has not just turned a new leaf. He is also changing lives, especially through the Belo Medical Group’s Scar Project that provides free, world-class treatments for both the physical and emotional scars of carefully selected individuals.
“It’s very expensive. But for us, our expertise is making people beautiful. Because it’s linked to people’s confidence. It’s linked to their self-love,” Hayden says.
As founder and CEO of DMark Beauty and DermAsia, two of the country’s biggest and most influential suppliers of physician-trusted skincare products and restoration technologies, Nikki Tang has shaped the local aesthetic market before it even existed. Now, she’s designing the next era of beauty, still guided by the core of what she does: to help restore people’s confidence and reshape their lives.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chairman Jose Eduardo Aliño brings decades of business experience to his new role. He aims to make Subic Bay a more vibrant economic corridor. To him, the SBMA post is his life’s new mission—and a call of duty to serve the nation.
What makes a person leave behind a stable, lucrative career? For lawyer Anna Cabrera, who owns 24 cats, her love for animals led her to turn her back on a successful banking career to work full time at the Philippine Animal Welfare Society, which exists to prevent cruelty, alleviate pain, fear and suffering in animals and to promote a society based on humane principles.
Despite the advent of social media and the proliferation of fake news, veteran and multi-awarded broadcast journalist Jessica Soho has stayed relevant. “As journalists, we just have to keep at it. Because just outside our doorstep, we see the problem. It stares us in the face very day.”
Four decades since he earned the title “Concert King,” Martin Nievera still reigns, proving why a title once uttered in sarcasm by showbiz insiders became apt for a performer who has outlasted trends, learned from criticism and reinvented himself throughout his career.
As the founder of I Want to Share Foundation, Sheila Romero has tirelessly led in helping numerous children with cancer, making their journey less dreadful, more manageable, and their battle, hopefully more winnable. Last August, her foundation was able to raise P92 million for the construction of a charity bone-marrow transplant wing at the Philippine General Hospital.
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon’s jobs keep getting harder and harder. But he endeavors to make sure that all future infrastructure projects are built with integrity. “If we are transparent and everyone is involved, including the private sector, and other civil society organizations, we can ensure that this (corruption) never happens again, together.”
We bid 2025 goodbye and look forward to the surprises the new year brings.
A Happy New Year to all. May it be filled with light—the light you give out, and the light you receive.
