RESPECTED entrepreneur, talent manager, pageant owner and aspiring Olongapo City mayoralty candidate Arnold Vegafria, was accorded with the Humanitarian Influencer of the Year Award at the recently held HyperLive Impact Influencer Awards 2025.

The event was held at the grand ballroom of the Magellan Suites, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia last March 9.

It was a gathering of the world’s most influential digital creators, visionary entrepreneurs and inspiring achievers. It was aimed at sparking meaningful change, empowering communities and promoting Sabah’s tourism industry onto the global forefront.

The festive gathering was attended by luminaries from Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.

Some of Malaysia’s top officials, dignitaries and a bevy of celebrities, beauty queens and musical performers were the special guests.

The award is a recognition of Arnold’s humanitarian advocacies and charity efforts over the past years, particularly those aligned with his organization’s various projects, including pageants, concerts, showbiz and sporting events and even public service and philanthropic efforts.

Recognized as one of showbiz industry’s prime movers for more than three decades now, Arnold has won many hats as talent manager, TV, concert and film producer, pageant owner, advertising and PR magnate, events producer, pageant owner and political advisor. He is presently running for mayor in his hometown in Olongapo City.

“I am greatly honored to have been recognized by our Asian neighbors for my humanitarian advocacies,” Arnold asserted. “I thank everyone who shares my vision for charity and social responsibility.

“I would like to thank Sean Wong, chairman of HyperLive Entertainment, the organizer of the event, for this recognition and for ensuring representation from the Philippines for this prestigious event.”

“I dedicate this award to my hardworking team from ALV Group of Companies, my artists and talents, my pageant queens, athletes, politicians who actively campaigned for and supported, as well as our clients and partner brands who have shared our vision for our advocacies and charities over the years.”

Arnold also dedicated the award to the people of Olongapo City, who believe in his vision for public service and who have encouraged him to run for mayor in this coming elections.

“With the award, I hope that I can continue to inspire my constituents through this humble achievement and empower me even more to extend my humanitarian efforts to the people who need them most and to those who dream of bringing back the glory of our beloved city.”

While in Malaysia, Arnold also openly expressed his admiration for Sabah’s booming tourism industry.

Gabbi lives her dream

SHE was not meant to be a housemate of “Pinoy Big Brother” when she auditioned back in 2012, but Gabbi Garcia recently fulfilled a dream when she ended up as host of the recently launched “Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Collab Edition.”

When the program premiered last March 9, Gabbi posted on her Instagram and reminisced when she was merely a young fan of the show. That night, she hosted the show but found herself unexpectedly locked inside the house as part of a special task.

“From my fiver year old dancing to ‘Pinoy Ako,’ PBB’s theme song to being the Kapuso It Girl ni Kuya to being stuck inside Kuya’s house? Magandang gabi po. Hahaha. I’m back in the outside world.”

“For now, what a crazy Day 1 for #PBBTheBigCollab #PBBCelebrityCollabEdition #HostedByGabbiG,” she remarked.

During the recent media conference of the “PBB,” Gabbi shared she once auditioned for the show. She made it past the first round, but didn’t advance to the next round after the second one.

Gabbi described becoming a host of PBB as a “full circle moment” for her.

Today, it’s such a full circle moment for me, to be able to, you know, audition how many years ago. And then right now, I’m standing in front of you as host. I’m so humbled and I’m so grateful for this opportunity,” she granted as reported by GMA Network.

It was in February when it was announced that Gabbi was one of the stars from the Kapuso Network to host PBB. The other was Mavy Legaspi. They are joining Kapamilya hosts Robi Domingo, Bianca Gonzalez, Alexa Ilacad and Melai Cantiveros.

The actress-host added, “This is a huge milestone and I can’t wait to share this experience with all of you. Game na ba kayo?”

AUTHOR PROFILE

Leah C. Salterio