Country
Philippines

Yong Chavez

Yong Chavez studied communication arts at the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines and her first reporting job was at Pacific Daily News (PDN) in Guam, a sister-publication of USA Today. In 2023 she won the International Media Award at the ICG Publicists Awards, making her its first-ever Filipino winner. In March 2024, she was invited by Stanford University’s Women Center where she spoke about her experiences as an international journalist in Hollywood. Chavez’s first reporting job in California was as a freelance writer for the San Francisco-based Philippine News in 2000. In 2005, Chavez became one of the TV correspondents of the ABS-CBN daily show Balitang America, now called TFC News, and has been the network’s Hollywood correspondent since 2011. ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment organization in the Philippines and for Filipinos worldwide, delivering programming to North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada and through its global distribution platform, TFC (The Filipino Channel) and digital iWantTFC. Apart from its cable and digital reach, ABS-CBN also has more than 80 million combined followers on social media. Chavez was the first TV reporter from the Philippines credentialed to cover the Academy Awards red carpet, as well as the Primetime Emmys and the SAG Awards. For her entertainment stories, Chavez interviews A-list Hollywood stars as well as underrepresented talents, particularly Filipinos and Asians making their mark in the entertainment industry.