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 ...

'' (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 ( ...

. She formerly anchored the newscast '' State of the Nation with Jessica Soho'' on

GMA News TV GMA News TV (GNTV; visually rendered in its logo in all capital letters as GMA NEWS TV) is a 24-hour Philippine-based international pay television channel owned by Citynet Network Marketing and Productions Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of G ...

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 GMA News TV (GNTV; visually rendered in its logo in all capital letters as GMA NEWS TV) i ...

'' team received the Philippines' first

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

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, it ...

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 city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

Career

Soho joined GMA News and Public Affairs 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 ...

Monumento Monumento may refer to: * ''Monumento'' (album), a 2008 album by Dakrya * Monumento, a district in Caloocan, Philippines where the Bonifacio Monument is located ** Monumento LRT Station See also ''Monumento'' means monument in Portuguese, Span ...

. 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 The Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP; en, Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines) is a broadcast media organization in the Philippines which provides its members broadcasting standards. The KBP was organized on April 27, 19 ...

. 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 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

in 1999. She won the Asian Television Award 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 ho ...

in humanities by the

University of Northeastern Philippines The University of Northeastern Philippines (UNEP) is a private non-sectarian university located in Iriga, Camarines Sur Iriga, officially the City of Iriga (Rinconada Bikol: ''Syudad ka Iriga''; bcl, Siyudad nin Iriga; fil, Lungsod ng Ir ...

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's ...

, 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 Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include erotic ...

, adding that Soho would be gang raped 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 Nuseir Yassin ( ar, نصير ياسين; he, נוסייר יאסין; born ) is an Arab-Israeli vlogger who is most notable for creating over 1,000 daily, one-minute-long videos on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram under the page Nas Daily. Bio ...

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 ...

Catriona Gray Catriona Elisa Magnayon Gray (; born 6 January 1994) is a Filipino-Australian model, singer, beauty queen, television personality, youth advocate and arts ambassador best known for having been crowned Miss Universe 2018. She is the fourth F ...

, fashion designer Michael Cinco, and food vlogger Erwan Heussaff would teach courses through his Nas Academy. However, following the Whang-od 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 Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. ( , , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials PBBM or BBM, is a Filipino politician who is the 17th and current president of the Philippines. He previously served as a sena ...

, 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 Adamson University ( fil, links=no, Pamantasang Adamson) also referred to by its acronym AdU is a private, Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution run by the Congregation of the Mission in Manila, Philippines. The univers ...

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)

Mary Kay Philippines Metro Pacific Corporation Journalism Awards Metrobank Foundation MTRCB TV Awards Paragala Awards Platinum Stallion Media Awards PMAP Makatao Awards for Media Excellence PMPC Star Awards for Television 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 –

(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