Philippines maintains spot in Global Gender Gap index 2026

Philippines retains spot in Global Gender Gap index

Louella Desiderio 
The Philippine Star 
September 17, 2026 

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines held on to the 20th spot out of 145 economies in this year’s Global Gender Gap Index released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The report, which tracks progress in closing the gender gap, showed that the Philippines maintained its ranking even as its gender parity score declined slightly to 78 percent this year from 78.1 percent last year.

It also showed that the Philippines remained one of the most consistent and higher ranked performers in East Asia and the Pacific, placing third in this year’s edition.

“Despite this, the Philippines has failed to keep the momentum that kept the economy in the top 10 on 13 prior editions,” the WEF said.

Over the last two decades, the Philippines has narrowed the overall gender gap by 2.8 percentage points from 75.2 percent in 2006.

WEF ranks economies by looking at gender parity across four dimensions: economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.

In economic participation, the Philippines placed 17th with a score of 78.3 percent, down from the previous year’s 13th spot and 79 percent score.

WEF said the result also reduces the country’s two-decade advancement to a total of +2.5 percentage points over its 2006 score as economic indicators had varying trajectories.

When it comes to educational attainment, the Philippines ranked 89th with a score of 98.9 percent. The ranking is down from last year’s 87th spot, but the score improved slightly from 98.8 percent.

In terms of health and survival, the Philippines’ rank and score improved to 76th and 96.9 percent, respectively, from last year’s 85th and 96.7 percent.

The Philippines also saw its ranking and score improve in political empowerment to 27th and 37.9 percent, respectively, from 30th and 37.7 percent last year.

Overall, Iceland topped the rankings for the 17th consecutive year, with 93 percent of the gender gap closed.

This was followed by Finland and Norway, which placed second and third for the third year running.

Completing the top 10 are Namibia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Sweden, Australia, Germany and Ireland.

WEF managing director Saadia Zahidi said that the data in the last 20 years show that gender parity is achievable, with economies at every income level making progress.

Philippines back-to-back victory in beauty tilt

 Another back-to-back crown: Philippines wins Face of Beauty Int’l 2025

Kathleen A. Llemit 
Philstar.com
November 30, 2025

MANILA, Philippines — In less than two months, the Philippines has scored more than two back-to-back pageant wins, with Nikki Buenafe securing the country’s back-to-back Face of Beauty International crown. 

Buenafe was crowned earlier tonight in Taichung, Taiwan as Face of Beauty International 2025 by fellow Filipina, Jeanne Isabelle Bilasano.

The Filipino-Iranian beauty bested 32 other delegates to take home the crown for the Philippines. 

Her runners-up are Lucy Dimitrova of Sweden (first runner-up), Julia Podkolina of Finland (second runner-up), Jing Mun Phan of Malaysia (third runner-up), and Suppanika Nopparat of Thailand (fourth runner-up).

Buenafe’s back-to-back victory comes days after Arianna Pantaleon won the Miss Environment International 2025 last November 24. 

Emma Mary Tiglao, meanwhile, retained the golden crown for the Philippines after she won Miss Grand International 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand last October 18. Her fellow Filipina beauty queen, Christine Juliane “CJ” Opiaza, reigned as Miss Grand International 2024. 

PH passport one of the world's most aesthetic

Philippines makes it in list of ‘most aesthetic’ passports in the world

John Patrick Magno Ranara
Philippine Star
26 March 2025

Here's one reason to flex your Philippine passport the next time you travel: It's among the most aesthetic passports in the world.

Hypebeast, a Hong Kong-based company focusing on contemporary culture and lifestyle, included the Philippines in their list of what they regard as some of the most eye-pleasing passports.

In the caption, they highlighted the "iconic Philippine eagle" design on the flip cover of the passport.

"From Norway’s UV-reactive landscapes to Japan’s ukiyo-e art, the Philippines’ iconic Philippine eagle, New Zealand’s sleek black cover, and more—these passports set the bar for design," Hypebeast said.

Other passports that made it to the list include Norway, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Finland, New Zealand, Hungary, and Belgium.

There are three types of Philippine passports issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs. The regular one is colored maroon and is issued to ordinary citizens for general travel purposes.

On the other hand, red passports are given to government officials and employees for official travel, while dark blue ones are designated for the Philippine diplomatic service, members of the Cabinet, and other high-ranking government officials.

As of the latest Henley Passport Index, the Philippines ranked 75th in the world's most powerful passports, slipping two spots from its 73rd slot in 2024.

Finland looks into PH for talent attraction

Finland looks to Philippines for talent attraction

Story by Louella Desiderio
Philstar Global
20 January 2025

MANILA, Philippines — Finland is actively encouraging Filipino workers to consider employment opportunities in the European country, citing the Philippines as one of its focus countries for talent attraction.

Laura Lindeman, senior director and head of Work in Finland, told reporters the Philippines, along with Vietnam, India and Brazil, has been identified by the Finnish government as one of the focus countries for cooperation in talent attraction and recruitment.

Work in Finland is a unit of Business Finland, an organization for financing innovation and promoting trade, travel and investment. It is under Finland’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

As part of efforts to attract Filipino workers, Lindeman said Work in Finland joined the delegation of stakeholders led by Finland’s Minister of Employment Arto Satonen that visited the Philippines from Jan.16 to 18.

“Finland really sees the Philippines as a very interesting market,” Lindeman said, noting that the Philippines has a long history of sending people outside the country for work.

She said the Philippines also has good systems in place to facilitate recruitment.

“Finnish recruitment companies have already recruited from the Philippines for more than 10 years. So now we are trying to help on a national level so that they can find reliable partners here because of course, it’s a huge market if you want to open up here,” she said.

She said Filipinos are also well-known, liked and appreciated in the Finnish labor market.

In addition, she said Finland recognizes the skills potential of the Filipino workforce and those in the three other focus countries.

“There are good education institutions in these countries that provide the kind of skills and talent that Finland needs. And then, of course, I think in all of these countries, there is some kind of cultural match,” she said.

She said Finland sees potential for Filipino workers and specialists in the technology, health and industrial sectors.

Data from Work in Finland showed there are 878 job opportunities open for English-speaking professionals.

As of 2023, there were 12,770 Filipino workers employed across various sectors in Finland, mostly in the health, technology, service and industrial sectors.

“Finland is an equal society with exceptional work-life balance. Our high-quality companies offer vast opportunities for professional development and education,” Lindeman said.

To learn more about working and living conditions in Finland, Filipino talents can visit www.workinfinland.com.

Filipino music talents conquering the world

Filipino talents who came before Sofronio Vasquez in international talent shows

Story by Jerry Donato
Philstar Global
14 December 2024

MANILA, Philippines — Before the advent and emergence of reality TV singing and talent show formats from abroad, the Pinoy talent in this creative field and competition was witnessed in singing contests abroad.

Now Original Pilipino Music (OPM) icons such as Dulce and Ivy Violan (winning the grand prize at the 1988 Asia Pacific Singing Contest) and Regine Velasquez (also securing the top award at the 1989 Asia Pacific Singing Contest) represented the country.

Ivy also went on to perform at the Golden Kite World Song Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1989 and won the grand prize at the International Midnight Sun Song Festival in Finland in 1991.

Kuh Ledesma sang Till I Met in the 1989 Salem Music Awards show in London. According to a former entertainment writer, she was the first Filipino recipient of such an award.

All this partly contributed to the Filipinos’ reputation as a force to reckon with when it comes to singing competitions.

Around a bit more than two decades ago, most people around the globe got acquainted with talent programs like “Got Talent,” “Idol (‘Pop Idol’ and ‘American Idol’),” and “The X Factor.” They have watched and followed them ever since.

These shows have also been remade and produced in other nations and territories.

With Pinoys’ diaspora and migration worldwide, Filipinos, either full-blooded or of mixed race, would take a chance in joining any of these shows and showcase their innate knack for carrying a tune and conveying the song story.

As they commence their contest journeys, they get the support of Pinoys in their specific country and also back home.

Even if they’ve fully immersed in their new country, they are still tethered back home and represent what Pinoy is, resilient, hardworking, loving and talented, just to name a few traits.

Days ago, Sofronio Vasquez, a Pinoy now living in Utica, New York, did make Pinoys proud as the winner of “The Voice” USA Season 26.

His accomplishment is historic as the first Asian and Filipino to top such an American and international singing tilt. It’s also perhaps a proper time to crown a winner from the Philippines following a good number of contestants of Filipino lineage who had tried their luck in the previous editions of “The Voice” USA or in other similar competitions.

The win of Sofronio has made one recall contestants of Filipino ancestry that either came close to winning or were named a champion.

The list for this piece is, not in any way, comprehensive. The names of artists easily came to mind when this article was written.

The list was also based on available data and information online and virtually.

Marlisa Punzalan

Marlisa Punzalan is “The X Factor” Australia winner in 2014 and her audition song was Yesterday of The Beatles. Ronan Keating, an Irish singer-songwriter and lead vocalist of Boyzone, was Marlisa’s mentor.

Her Filipino parents from Bataan went to Australia and raised Marlisa in Sydney.

Cyrus Villanueva

Cyrus Villanueva, on the other hand, is the winner of “The X Factor” Australia in 2015. His dad is Filipino from Cotabato City, Philippines. The Villanuevas are from Wollongong, New South Wales.

In an interview with this paper back in 2016, Cyrus shared about his three unforgettable performances in the talent show, “I think one of my favorite memories is the song Dancing On My Own. That was the song I sang at the boot camp. I was on the piano... Jealous, I love piano ballad. I love just the piano, I love just the voice. I love how raw a simple song like that is, how vulnerable you are. You know it’s just a best opportunity to tell the story. It’s just the piano and the voice. That was in the grand finals that I sang that.”

“I remember when (judge-mentor) Chris (Isaak) told me that was the song he chose for me, I was so happy. It was the most important time of the competition because I didn’t want to choose a terrible song. He chose an amazing song for me. It allowed me to kinda showcase what I love about performing — just the piano and just my voice,” added he. “Stone, the very first single I have ever released. It’s such a great song… To know that that was the first song that I heard myself on the radio, the first time I heard my voice on the radio was on that song, it was strange. It was weird.”

With Marlisa and Cyrus’ wins, the Pinoy talent had a back-to-back win in “The X Factor” Australia.

From Down Under, the singing talent of Filipinos was also showcased in “The X Factor” Asia and Europe.

Rose Fostanes

Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Rose Fostanes was named the winner of “The X Factor” Israel first edition. She performed If I Ain’t Got You, Sweet Dreams and My Way during the finals. Her rendition of the Shirley Bassey song, This is My Life, earned her to enter the audition phase. It helped her cruise the boot camps, quarter-finals, semifinals and finals.

She worked as a caregiver in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Bella Santiago

The professional singer in Malaysia, Bella Santiago, did a strong start in “The X Factor” Romania with a Jessie J cover (Bang Bang), and showed her performing skills, encompassing singing and dancing.

For the grand finals, she performed a mash-up of Beyoncé songs and claimed the top prize and title of “The X Factor” Romania winner.

The success of Pinoy talents continued in that part of the world with the championship wins of Justine Afante and Fil-Austrian Lukas Janisch in “The Voice Kids” UK (2020) and “The Voice Kids” Germany (2016), respectively. Her winning song was Listen of Beyoncé, while his were If I Ain’t Got You of Alicia Keys and When We Were Young of Adele.

Justine Afante, winner, The Voice Kids (UK) 2020

Lukas Janisch, winner, The Voice Kids (Germany) 2016

In “The American Idol,” Jasmine Trias and Jessica Sanchez were among the contestants who represented Pinoys. Jasmine from Hawaii reached the “The American Idol” Top 3 in its third season, while Jessica Sanchez of California was in the Top 2/runner-up for “The American Idol” 11th season.

Jasmine Trias, American Idol Top 3 (season 3 | 2004)

“The American Idol” journey of Jessica was extra unforgettable for her and fans when judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler decided to use their one “save” for the season. Thus, she was able to continue and reach the finale.

Jessica Sanchez, American Idol Top 2 (Season 11 |  2012)

Jessica took on Change Nothing, I Have Nothing, The Prayer in the final showdown. Jasmine, for the final round, performed All By Myself, Mr. Melody and Saving All My Love for You.

The Philippines was also well-represented in “Asia’s Got Talent” (with season one winner the shadow play dance group El Gamma Penumbra and grand finalists Gerphil Flores, DM-X Comvaleñoz, Neil Rey Garcia and Power Duo, to name some Pinoy talents).

With Sofronio’s win in “The Voice” USA season 26, Pinoy voices and talents continue to soar and be showcased in programs abroad.

Kudos also to Filipinos who have reached the audition and succeeding rounds of any talent competition and have proudly represented the country.

PH bet is the First Miss Universe Asia

Chelsea Manalo named first Miss Universe Asia

Story by Yoniel Acebuche 
Philstar.com
17 November 2024

The Philippines' Chelsea Manalo added to her impressive Miss Universe journey by claiming the title of Miss Universe Asia, one of the pageant's continental crowns.

On Instagram, Miss Universe Philippines (MUPH) creative director Jonas Gaffud shared the good news on social media where Manalo, who finished in the top 30 of the pageant on Sunday, Nov. 17, was announced as Miss Universe Asia and was awarded by Miss Universe owner Anne Jakrajutatip.

"Yes Thank you, Lord! Chelsea has an award! Miss Universe Asia!" Gaffud wrote in the caption.

Meanwhile, MUPH shared a video of Manalo thanking her Filipino pageant fans for the feat.

"Hello, Maraming Salamat. Mabuhay [ang] Pilipinas, we are making history as Miss Universe Asia," she said.

Joining Manalo are Nigeria's Chidimma Adetshina, Finland's Matilda Wirtavuori, and Peru's Tati Calmell who were named continental queens for Africa & Oceania, Europe, and the Americas, respectively.

In case you didn't know, the selection of continental queen is among the new rules set for the 73rd Miss Universe, where four girls from their respective continents will receive this award.

As continental queens, they will accompany Victoria Kjaer Theilvig, the newly crowned Miss Universe, on some trips, who is expected to visit 35 countries.

According to a report by ABS-CBN News, Manalo will travel to Asian countries, including Thailand and Palawan in the Philippines.

Manalo ended her Miss Universe 2024 journey in the Top 30 during the coronation night in Mexico on Sunday, Nov. 17 (PH Time). If she won, she would be the fifth Pinay to win the coveted Miss Universe crown, following the wins of Catriona Gray (2018), Pia Wurtzbach (2015), Margie Moran (1973), and Gloria Diaz (1969).

Meanwhile, Denmark's Theilvig has been crowned the 73rd Miss Universe, making her the first Danish woman to win the prestigious crown. This is also the first time since 1957 that Denmark has landed in the top five of the competition.

The World Happiness Report placed Philippines 5th spot in Asia

 This is the happiest country in Asia, according to the World Happiness Report

Story by Ernestine Siu
CNBC
20 March 2024

Singapore is the happiest country in Asia for the second year in a row, according to the 2024 World Happiness Report released Wednesday.

The city-state ranked 30 out of the 143 places surveyed for the study.

Topping the list this year is Finland, followed closely by Denmark and Iceland.

The World Happiness Report is a joint effort from some of the world's leading researchers and wellbeing scientists. The happiness ranking in this study is supported by data from the Gallup World Poll which measures individuals' average life evaluations, taken over three years from 2021 to 2023.

The top 10 happiness rankings in Asia:

1. Singapore
2. Taiwan
3. Japan
4. South Korea
5. Philippines
6. Vietnam
7. Thailand
8. Malaysia
9. China
10. Mongolia

Experts also analyzed data in six key factors: GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, generosity and perception of corruption. Their research into these areas provided deeper insight and potential explanations for the subjective quality of life ratings people gave.

"These factors help to explain the differences across nations, while the rankings themselves are based only on the answers people give when asked to rate their own lives," according to a statement by the World Happiness Report.

The data gathered for the six factors came from organizations like the World Bank, the World Health Organization and the Gallup World Poll.

"Singapore did very well in terms of GDP per capita, one of the highest rankings in our dataset," Shun Wang, co-author and editor of the 2024 World Happiness Report told CNBC Make It.

"That means Singapore's government is really clean and their people really have a very low perception of corruption ... even lower, you know, than Denmark or Norway," Wang added.

Denmark and Norway ranked 2nd and 7th, respectively, on this year's report.

Additionally, Singapore "does particularly well on generating healthy life expectancy, so long lives and healthy lives," according to Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Director of the Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford University and editor of the 2024 World Happiness Report.

Despite this, Singapore ranks lower in terms of its perceived social support, freedom to make life choices, and generosity.

"Singapore is punching below its weight," said De Neve. "Given all the objective indicators about Singapore, you'd expect Singapore to be in the top 20 of the World Happiness Report."

"I would love to challenge the Singaporean government and the people of Singapore to find ways to leverage the extraordinary city-state that they've created into ways of improving quality of life as people experience it," De Neve said.

CNBC reached out to the Singapore government for comment, but did not immediately hear back.

Myanmar, Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are among Asia's least happy countries, according to the report.

India, the world's most populous nation, came in at 126th out of 143 places surveyed.