Maria Jessica Aspiras Soho (; born March 27, 1964) is a Filipino broadcast journalist known as the host of the news magazine program ''

Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho ''Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho'' (International title: ''One at Heart, Jessica Soho'' / ) also known as ''KMJS'', is a Philippine television news magazine show broadcast by GMA Network. Hosted by Jessica Soho, it premiered on November 7, 2004 on th ...

'' (2004present) on

GMA Network GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network, Inc. Its first broadcast on television was on October 29, 1961. GMA Network (f ...

. She formerly anchored the newscast '' State of the Nation with Jessica Soho'' on GMA News TV from 2011 to 2021. Soho is a multi-awarded journalist. In 1998, Soho became the first Filipino to win the British Fleet Street Award for Journalism. In 1999, Soho and the ''

I-Witness ''i-Witness'', formerly ''i-Witness: The GMA Documentaries'' is a Philippine television documentary show broadcast by GMA Network and GMA News TV. Originally hosted by Vicky Morales, Luchi Cruz-Valdes, Mike Enriquez, Cheche Lazaro and Jessica ...

'' team received the Philippines' first Peabody Award for producing the "Kidneys for Sale" and "Kamao" documentaries. Soho's story of a hostage crisis in

Cagayan Valley Cagayan Valley ( ilo, Tanap ti Cagayan; fil, Lambak ng Cagayan), is an administrative region in the Philippines, located in the northeastern section of Luzon Island. It is composed of five Philippine provinces: Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, ...

made her the first Filipino to win in the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, i ...

Early life

Maria Jessica Aspiras Soho was born in San Fernando, La Union, Philippines, on March 27, 1964. Her parents are Abelardo Soho, a government employee, and Maura Aspiras, an agriculturist. Soho's grandmothers, Sixta "Apo Ittang" Aspiras and Concepción "Cion" Soho, influenced her in telling stories. Soho attended the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

to study mass communication. One of her professors was

Luis Beltran Luis "Ka Louie" Diaz Beltran (April 4, 1936 – September 6, 1994) was a Philippine broadcast journalist and newspaper columnist. In 2018, Beltran was identified by the Human Rights Victims' Claims Board as a Motu Proprio human rights vio ...

, who inspired Soho to finish her studies and practice journalism in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Career

Soho joined

GMA News and Public Affairs GMA Integrated News and Public Affairs (formerly known as ''RBS News Department'', ''GMA Radio-Television News'' and ''GMA Rainbow Satellite News''; and commonly GMA (Integrated) News) is the news division of the GMA Network Inc. The division ...

in January 1985. Soho's first voice-over report was a feature story on the inauguration of the Manila Line 1 from

Baclaran Baclaran is a barangay located in the northern area of the city of Parañaque, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is also known to be located at the borders of the cities of Parañaque and Pasay. Because of its proximity to the seashore, the place w ...

to Monumento. Soho was later assigned to the defense and military beats. In 1991, Soho earned a Bronze Award at the

for her coverage of a hostage crisis in

, the first for a Filipino. She also received the Ka Doroy Valencia Award given by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas. In 1994, she received the Grand Prize from the

Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU or APBU), formed in 1964, is a non-profit, professional association of broadcasting organisations. It currently has over 287 members in 57 countries and regions, reaching a potential audience of about 3 bil ...

for her coverage of a breaking news story. Soho is included in the list of 100 Filipino Women of Distinction chosen during the

Philippine Centennial The Philippine Centennial was a series of celebrations by the Philippine government to primarily commemorate the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of Philippine Independence on June 12, 1898. Background The Philippine Centennial primarily co ...

celebrations. Soho helped conceptualize the one-hour documentary television program ''

'', which she co-presented from its premiere in 1999 to 2004. The ''I-Witness'' documentaries "Kidneys for Sale" and "Kamao" made her the first Filipino reporter, with

as the first Filipino network, to win a Peabody Award in 1999. She won the

Asian Television Award The Asian Television Awards (launched in 1996), is an appreciation to recognize and reward programming and production excellence in the Asian television industry. Held every December, the Awards comprises 56 categories across news, documentari ...

for Best News and Current Affairs Special for the 2001 "Saksi Sa Kasaysayan" documentary. In 2014, Soho's GMA news programs ''

'' and '' State of the Nation with Jessica Soho'' were recognized by the Peabody Awards for their coverage on Super Typhoon Yolanda. ''State of the Nation'' also earned Soho consecutive wins for Most Trusted News Presenter by ''Reader's Digest Asia''. In 2015, Soho was given an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

in humanities by the University of Northeastern Philippines during its 67th commencement exercises on April.

Controversies

In May 2013, a controversy sparked involving Soho and comedian

Vice Ganda Jose Marie Borja Viceral (born March 31, 1976), popularly known as Vice Ganda (; ), is a Filipino comedian, talk show host, television presenter, actor, entrepreneur, and singer. He is a regular host on ABS-CBN's noontime variety show '' It' ...

, involving a joke directed at the anchor during the latter's concert held that May. Vice mentioned Soho, among several other personalities, in a stand-up skit involving celebrities starring in a pornographic film, adding that Soho would be

gang raped Gang rape, also called serial gang rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape in scholarly literature,Ullman, S. E. (2013). 11 Multiple perpetrator rape victimization. Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrator Rape: A Multidisciplinary Re ...

if she were cast, as well as making several jokes ridiculing her weight. Vice Ganda later issued a public apology during his regular appearances in '' It's Showtime'', admitting to his wrongdoing and that he offended Soho and several others with his jokes. Soho later acknowledged Vice's apology but she denied any intent to close any further discussion with the comedian. In June 2021, Nas Daily announced that Soho, among other known Filipino personalities, which include

Miss Universe 2018 Miss Universe 2018 was the 67th Miss Universe pageant, held at the IMPACT Arena, Muang Thong Thani, Nonthaburi Province, Thailand on December 17, 2018. At the end of the event, Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa crowned Catriona Gray of ...

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, fashion designer Michael Cinco, and food vlogger Erwan Heussaff would teach courses through his Nas Academy. However, following the

Whang-od Whang-od Oggay (First name pronunciation: ; born February 17, 1917), also known as Maria Oggay, is a Filipina tattoo artist from Buscalan, Tinglayan, Kalinga, Philippines. She is often described as the "last" and oldest '' mambabatok'' (tradit ...

controversy, Jessica Soho has made a statement that she would no longer pursue the Jessica Soho course in Nas Academy. In January 2022, Soho was accused of being "biased" against Bongbong Marcos, a presidential candidate in the 2022 Philippine presidential election, by his spokesman Victor Rodriguez after declining to participate in ''The Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews'' on GMA Network. GMA responded to Rodriguez's claim on Marcos' absence, saying "Throughout her career, Ms. Soho has consistently been named the most trusted media personality in the Philippines by both local and foreign organizations, a testament to her embodiment of the GMA News and Public Affairs ethos: 'Walang Kinikilingan, Walang Pinoprotektahan, Serbisyong Totoo Lamang'".

Accolades

International recognitions

Asian TV Festival British Embassy in Manila Reader's Digest Trusted Brands Asia

Local recognitions

Adamson University ALTA Media Icon Awards Anak TV Seal Award Catholic Mass Media Awards CCP Gawad Natatanging Parangal CLASS Awards (City of Malabon University) COMGUILD Center for Journalism EdukCircle Awards Federation of Philippine Industries, Inc. FemaleNetwork.com Gawad Duyan Awards Gawad Pasado Awards Golden Dove Awards International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Philippines International Business and Academe Conference's Service Excellence and Partners Awards International Center for Communication Studies (ICCS) Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas Mary Kay Philippines Metro Pacific Corporation Journalism Awards Metrobank Foundation

MTRCB The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board ( fil, Lupon sa Rebyu at Klasipikasyon ng Pelikula at Telebisyon; abbreviated as MTRCB) is a Philippine government agency under the Office of the President of the Philippines that is respon ...

TV Awards Paragala Awards Platinum Stallion Media Awards PMAP Makatao Awards for Media Excellence

PMPC Star Awards for Television PMPC Star Awards for Television is an annual award-giving body recognizing the outstanding programming produced by the several TV networks in the Philippines. It was founded by the Philippine Movie Press Club, an organization of tabloid repor ...

School Press Advisers Movement (SPAM) PUP Mabini Media Awards The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award Rotary Club of Manila UmalohokJUAN Awards UPLB Gandingan Awards USTv Students' Choice Awards

Honors

* Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa – University of Northeastern Philippines (2015)

References

{{24 Oras 1964 births Living people Ilocano people Filipino people of Chinese descent Filipino reporters and correspondents Filipino television news anchors Filipino television presenters Filipino women journalists Filipino women television presenters GMA Network personalities GMA News and Public Affairs people Peabody Award winners People from San Fernando, La Union University of the Philippines Diliman alumni Women television journalists