Gretchen Ong Ho (; born April 19, 1990) is a Filipino broadcaster, television presenter and former

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player. She played collegiate volleyball for the

Ateneo Lady Eagles The Ateneo Blue Eagles are the collegiate varsity teams of the Ateneo de Manila University that play in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the premiere collegiate league in the Philippines. The Ateneo collegiate me ...

from 2008 to 2013, where she was a member of the "fab five" who brought Ateneo to their first back-to-back

UAAP The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univer ...

finals appearances (seasons 74 and 75). She then played professionally for the Petron Blaze Spikers in the

Philippine Super Liga The Philippine Super Liga (PSL; alternatively spelled as Philippine Superliga) was a non-professional corporate club women's volleyball league in the Philippines. It was first organized by SportsCore Event Management and Consultancy, Inc. and ...

(PSL) from 2013 to 2015, where she helped the team win the 2014 Grand Prix Conference.

Personal life

Ho was born to James and Annie Ho. She is the only daughter among four siblings. Ho was previously in a relationship with host and actor

Robi Domingo Robert Marion Eusebio Domingo (, born September 27, 1989) is a Filipinos, Filipino VJ, actor, dancer, and host. He first gained fame as a reality show contestant by joining and ending up as the first runner-up of the reality competition series ...

from 2012 to 2017.

Career

Volleyball

She played varsity volleyball in high school for Immaculate Conception Academy-Greenhills. While in college, she played for Ateneo De Manila University for 5 years. She also played professional volleyball for two years, suiting up for the Petron Trail Blazers in the

from 2013 to 2015, as well as the PSL Beach Volleyball Cup in 2015. She is one of the co-founders of Beach Volleyball Republic.

Clubs

* Petron Blaze Spikers (2013–2015)

Journalism

Having earned a

double degree Joint degrees are academic qualifications awarded through integrated curricula often jointly coordinated and delivered by multiple higher education institutions, sometimes across different countries. Graduates may receive a single qualification ...

in BS Management Engineering and AB Communications, and a minor in Development Management from Ateneo de Manila University, Ho moved to television work. She debuted as one of the hosts of ''Gameday Weekend'', a sports magazine show on Balls and ABS-CBN Sports+Action. She previously worked as an anchor, segment host, and field reporter for various

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

programs, such as '' Umagang Kay Ganda'', ''

TV Patrol ''TV Patrol'' is a Philippine television news broadcasting show broadcast by ABS-CBN, Kapamilya Channel, A2Z and All TV. Originally anchored by Noli de Castro, Mel Tiangco and Robert Arevalo, it premiered on March 2, 1987, on the netw ...

'', '' News Patrol'', ''

The Score The Score may refer to: Films and television * The Score (1978 film), ''The Score'' (1978 film), a 1978 Swedish film, released in Sweden as ''Lyftet'' * The Score (2001 film), ''The Score'' (2001 film), a 2001 crime drama film starring Robert De Ni ...

'', and ''University Town''. On January 26, 2021, Ho officially transferred to TV5 after 7 years on

as part of its retrenchment program caused by the ABS-CBN shutdown from the Philippine Congress that junked the new ABS-CBN legislative franchise to operate. In September 2022, Ho started producing her own travel, documentary and public service program called ''Woman In Action''. She hosts and co-writes the program that airs on ONE NEWS, ONE PH and TV5. Woman In Action won "Best Public Affairs Program" at the PMAP Makatao Awards in 2023.

Advocacy and issues

On May 22, 2017, Ho became an Ambassador for Health and Nutrition of the Philippine branch of the

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

, and

advocacy Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...

organization

World Vision The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

. Ho has also spoken out publicly on various social issues. In 2018 she spoke out about the importance of freedom, saying "''That's the media's responsibility in a democracy: to keep power in check.''" In 2020 she added her voice to the many others who asked for the government to unveil concrete plans to fight the

COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines The COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , there have been reported cases, and reported deaths, the fift ...

. On April 19, 2020, Ho launched her own brand and online platform, Woman In Action, with an article titled, "COVID19: My Birthday Eve". According to her, she created the website to create a "safe space" where she and anyone else can share their stories. "In this time of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

crisis, we'd like to share more #happinews to the world. Let's all help uplift each other's spirits," Ho wrote on the website. Under "Woman In Action", Ho started her "Donate A Bike, Save A Job" campaign, providing more than 1000 bicycles to the most vulnerable during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The bikes were distributed to 10 cities all over Metro Manila, even reaching typhoon victims in Naga and Cagayan.

Filmography

Film

* ''Stranded'' (2019)

Television

* '' Gameday Weekend'' (2014–2016) –

ABS-CBN Sports and Action ABS-CBN Sports and Action (stylized as ABS-CBN Sports+Action or simply S+A or S and A), was a free-to-air television network based in Quezon City. It was owned by ABS-CBN Corporation with some of its programs produced and licensed by ABS-CBN ...

, Balls and ABS-CBN Sports and Action HD * '' Team U'' (2014) –

* ''

'' (2014) –

* '' CHInoyTV'' (2014) –

People's Television Network People's Television Network (; abbreviated PTV) is the flagship State broadcasting, state broadcaster owned by the Government of the Philippines. Founded in 1974, PTV is the main brand of People's Television Network, Inc. (PTNI), one of the att ...

* ''

'' (2015); Guest Star Patroller –

* '' Mornings @ ANC'' (2015–2016); Host – ANC * ''The Daily Serve'' (2015–2020); Anchor – ANC * ''Modern Girls'' (2016–2017); Host –

Lifestyle Lifestyle is the interests, opinions, behaviours, and behavioural orientations of an individual, group, or culture. The term "style of life" () was introduced by Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler in his 1929 book, ''The Case of Miss R.'', w ...

* '' CHInoyTV'' (2017–2018); Host –

ABS-CBN News Channel The ABS-CBN News Channel, commonly known as ANC, is a 24/7 Philippine pay television news channel. It was launched in 1996 as the first all-news network in English language. The majority of its programs are produced by ABS-CBN News and Curre ...

* ''

University Town A college town or university town is a town or city whose character is dominated by a college or university and their associated culture, often characterised by the student population making up 20 percent of the population of the community, bu ...

'' (2016–2020); ( S+A) * '' Umagang Kay Ganda'' (2016–2020); Host –

* ''

'' (2015–2018); Segment Host –

* ''

Frontline Pilipinas ''Frontline'' () is a Philippine television news broadcasting show broadcast by TV5 (Philippine TV network), TV5. Originally anchored by Raffy Tulfo and Cheryl Cosim, it premiered on October 5, 2020, replacing ''Aksyon (TV program), Aksyon''. ...

'' (2021–2023); Sports Segment Anchor – TV5 * '' The Big Story'' (2021–present); Anchor – One News * ''Woman in Action'' (2021–2023); Host – TV5, One News and

One PH One PH (stylized as one Ph) is a 24/7 Tagalog-language teleradio news channel owned by MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. through Cignal TV. It was soft launched on February 18, 2019 and was officially launched on July 31, 2019, on satellite provider C ...

* '' Frontline sa Umaga'' (2022–2023); Anchor – TV5 * ''

Gud Morning Kapatid (transl. Good Morning Sibling, stylized as ) is a Philippine television news and talk show produced by TV5. Originally hosted by Justin Quirino, Gretchen Ho and Jes delos Santos, it premiered on June 19, 2023, on the network's Gandang Morni ...

'' (2023); Anchor – TV5

TV specials

* ''Wish Music Awards'' (2016–present); Host * '' Binibining Pilipinas 2017'' (2017); Judge –

* ''PMPC Star Awards For TV'' (2015); Host & Presenter –

* ''Mr. & Ms. Chinatown'' (2015–2020); Host –

Accolades

* 2023 PMAP Best Public Affairs Show for "Woman In Action" * 2022 Paragala Media Awards -- Paragala Pang Kabataan: News and Current Affairs * 2020 Paragala Media Awards -- Best News Personality * 2020 3rd Gawad Lasallianeta -- Most Outstanding Female Correspondent * 2019 Gawad Pilipino -- Best New Female Segment Host for the Year * 2018 PMPC Star Awards for TV – Best Lifestyle Show and Best Morning Show Hosts UKG Barkada Winner (Umagang Kay Ganda) * 2016 PMPC Star Awards for TV – Best Lifestyle Show and Best Morning Show Hosts UKG Barkada Winner (Umagang Kay Ganda) * Halalan 2016 "Bayan Mo, iPatrol Mo" Ambassador * 2016 USTv XII Awards—Student's Choice of Personality for Social Media Development, Ranked No. 61 * 2015 PMPC Star Awards for TV – Best Lifestyle Show and Best Lifestyle Show Host Nominee (ChinoyTV) * Hall of Famer – First Philippine Superliga Ambassadress * Female Hothlete of the Year – Yahoo Celebrity Awards 2014 * FHM Philippines 100 Sexiest Women 2014, Ranked No. 100 * FHM Philippines 100 Sexiest Women 2015, Ranked No. 61

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Gretchen 1990 births Filipino women's volleyball players Living people Ateneo de Manila University alumni Filipino people of Chinese descent University Athletic Association of the Philippines volleyball players Star Magic Filipina gravure idols Filipino YouTubers ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs people News5 people Filipino television sportscasters Filipino television news anchors Middle blockers Wing spikers