Lessons that matter: At the 28th AOY, great work doesn’t stop when it’s recognized

The Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines (4As Philippines) brought the industry together on September 25 at FIFTH at Rockwell in Makati City for the 2026 Agency of the Year (AOY) Awards.

For 28 years, AOY has lived up to a distinction the industry knows well: “The Award That Matters.” In an exclusive interview with adobo Magazine, 2026 AOY Chair and TBWA\SMP Chief Operations Officer Portia Catuira and Seven A.D. Founding Partner & Chief Digital Officer Russel Molina, who serves as Vice Chair of the AOY, shared why the AOY truly is the award that matters. 

“You don’t just look at one campaign. It’s really the agency as a whole. It looks at the people, the health of the agency as well, the impact of the agency and the industry. So it’s really the total performance of the industry,” Catuira said. 

 

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Molina explains further, saying, “It’s a more holistic approach. Rather than looking at pieces of material in campaigns, we look at how agencies and organizations build brands, build their business, and also contribute to the industry and the community as a whole.”

“So, I think AOY is the award that matters because it celebrates the entirety of the industry, including multi-disciplines like media, activation, production,” Molina added. 

Creativity, creativity, creativity

The awards program opened with an invocation that also served as a tribute to industry practitioners who passed away this year, their images appearing on LED screens as attendees joined in solemn prayer.

A welcome address by 4As Chairperson and Dentsu Philippines CEO of the Creative Services Line Ronald “Bonat” Barreiro followed the invocation.

Barreiro acknowledged the efforts of 2026 AOY Chair Catuira, who led a jury of senior creative and business leaders in identifying the agencies that made their mark; Vice Chair Molina; and the rest of the Management Committee for this year’s AOY awards.

Further into his speech, Barreiro engaged the audience with a series of compelling questions. 

“How do we build an advertising industry that is not only creative, but sustainable? How do we build agencies that can navigate disruption, develop talent, create meaningful work, and continue to be valuable business partners to our clients?”

He then reiterated 4As’ longstanding theme:  Creativity means business. 

Ronald “Bonat” Barreiro, 4As Chairperson and CEO of the Creative Services Line at Dentsu Philippines

He underscored its significance, saying, “It matters because creativity is not simply about winning awards. Creativity is how we solve problems. It’s how we create growth. Creativity is how we respond when the business model changes, and creativity is how we keep our industry and the people who work in it moving forward.”

With this exposition, Barreiro found the answer to his own questions.

Great work doesn’t end when recognized

When AOY Chair Portia Catuira stepped onstage for her speech, she acknowledged the presence of Barreiro, 4As President Ricky Gonzales, and 4As Board Advisors Tom Banguis, Johnny Cua, John Nicdao, Matec Villanueva, and Yolly Ong.

She also thanked 4As Philippines partner industry organizations, such as the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA), Ad Standards Council (ASC), and the Digital Marketing Association of the Philippines (DMAP), to name a few. She expressed her gratitude to KPMG (Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler), the AOY’s audit partner, for “continuing to uphold the integrity of the competition.” 

Catuira acknowledged the efforts of the jury heads and members of the 2026 AOY Management Committee, and called them one by one, mentioning the panel categories each person led: 

Russel Molina, Founding Partner & Chief Digital Officer, at Seven A.D. – Independent Agency of the Year

Chino Jayme, Executive Creative Director of Ogilvy Manila – Creative

Tats Cruz, Chief Creative Agencies Officer at Publicis Groupe Philippines – Management of Business

Edg Samson, Chief Client Officer at Jayme Headquarters – Market Performance 

Ronald Barreiro, CEO of the Creative Services Line, Dentsu Philippines – Industry Leadership & Community Service

Pat Dizon-Sotto, Co-Founder & Managing Director of The Huddle Room – Media Agency of the Year

Peach Natividad, Chief Strategy Officer at BBDO Guerrero – Digital Agency of the Year 

Henson Wongaiham, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at AdHoc Marketing – Brand Experience

Earl Guico, President & Managing Partner at Elesi Studios – Production Excellence

Joy Garcia, Chief Operating Officer at Octopus & Whale – The NextGen Awards

Norman Agatep, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at Grupo Agatep – Public Relations Agency of the Year (New Category)

“I couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you for your hard work, your time, and your dedication to AOY,” Catuira said. “There were a lot of decisions to make along the way, but I was so grateful I didn’t have to make it on my own.”

Catuira went on to say that as the Chair, she realized that putting together the AOY is “almost as challenging” as entering it. More than anything, the experience reminded her of why the AOY continues to matter: to celebrate the agencies, the people behind some of the year’s best work, and something else—something much bigger—entirely.

“The ambition to keep doing better work,” Catuira pointed out.

“Great work doesn’t end when it’s recognized. It inspires another idea, another team, and another possibility.”

Patterns unfold

A montage featuring the members of each judging panel flashed on the LED backdrop on stage, presenting some of the most revered industry professionals in advertising, communications, public relations, marketing, and production. The awarding proper began thereafter, recognizing each finalist and honoring every winner in several categories.

The complete roster of winners can be found here. 

Over the years, TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno has consistently won as Network Agency of the Year at the AOY. This year, the agency bagged eight awards and was again named Network Agency of the Year, overall. Moreover, its  

dominance in this year’s edition was broad in scope, which also includes Management of Business, Digital Excellence in Innovation, Brand Experience’s Creativity and Innovation, the NextGen Director award for Vince Belen, and the inaugural PR Agency of the Year award. 

BBDO Guerrero, on the other hand, built its case on craft and results. The agency took Best in Creative and Best in Market Performance in the Network category, then leveraged that same creative-effectiveness edge into Digital Excellence in Creativity and Effectiveness and Digital Agency of the Year.

Seven A.D., for its part, delivered the night’s closest thing to a clean sweep. Under the Independent Agency of the Year category, it won Creative, Market Performance, and Management of Business—three-for-three before the top award. 

The one category it didn’t touch, Industry Leadership and Community Service, went to Jayme Headquarters.

In an exclusive post-awards interview with adobo Magazine, Merlee Jayme, Chairmom of Jayme Headquarters and the Misfits Camp—whose core advocacy revolves around neurodiversity, disability inclusion, and creative equity—said, “This [award] in Industry and Community Service, is the award that matters to us.” 

Intersections Communications had the most uncontested run of the night, winning Best in Media, Best in Management of Business, and Media Agency of the Year without a single category loss outside of the CSR carve-out. Levita Eslava-Cruz of Intersections also won the NextGen Award for Media. 

Intersections Communications Chief Executive Officer Gladys Basinillo, in a post-awarding-ceremony interview with adobo Magazine, enumerated the factors that she believes led to Intersections’ quadruple success at this year’s AOY.

“I think it’s really courage for our part, because we’re an independent agency. Creativity, passion, innovation, and obviously—a very good team,” she said.

The Industry Leadership and Community Service panel rewarded a different agency than the overall category winner.

This split showed up three times: Dentsu Creative over TBWA under Network, Jayme Headquarters over Seven A.D. under Independent, and The Huddle Room over Intersections under Media.

This consistent deviation suggests that the industry-leadership and community-service criteria measure something separate from creative or commercial strength. The  Industry Leadership and Community Service award then inadvertently served as a counterweight recognition for agencies already dominating elsewhere.

The plates have been handed out, but there is yet another takeaway from this year’s AOY lying beyond the winners’ list. Different agencies led in creativity, performance, and community impact, suggesting that no single formula defines an agency that matters.

If the night had a common thread, it was the one 4As Philippines keeps returning to: creativity means business, and great work doesn’t stop when it’s recognized. It simply sets the bar for what comes next.

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