Cathy Yang retires voluntarily from PLDT

MANILA, Philippines – Business journalist Cathy Yap-Yang voluntarily retired from telecommunications giant PLDT Incorporated, where she served as group head of corporate communications for over four years. 

In a disclosure on Monday, December 2, PLDT said Yang had opted for voluntary retirement as one of its first vice presidents effective Sunday, December 1.

In a social media post on Monday, Yang, who had been working for then-broadcast giant ABS-CBN prior to joining the corporate world, thanked the PLDT Group for the privilege of working with them, but added that she would continue to be a Kapatid. The Duterte administration shut down ABS-CBN’s broadcast business in 2020, prompting many of its talents to look for jobs elsewhere.

“2024 has been truly eventful — the full ecosystem of Tech, Media and Telco (TMT) coming together for me in quite unexpected ways, deepening and broadening my roles as journalist and corporate citizen. I am immensely grateful for the international recognitions that have come along while straddling both worlds for nearly four and a half years,” she said. 

Yang also shared that she would continue with her work creating content for Pangilinan’s media holding firm, MediaQuest. She told Rappler on Monday that she would take a one-month break before working full-time again in Philippine media. 

“For 2025, the clarion call comes from media. With five seasons in — and multiple international awards to boot — Thought Leaders with Cathy Yang turns out to be just the start,” she said. 

Thought Leaders with Cathy Yang is her online talk show where she interviews newsmakers in the worlds of business and sports, as well as women leaders. It now airs on MediaQuest’s cable TV business, Cignal, and on its online platform, One News.

“…To all my Kapatid in Cignal One News, I look forward to the new year creating more content and conversations for our fellow Pinoys — on air, on ground, and online,” she said. 

Yang won the 2023 Best Talk Show Host from the Asian TV Awards, and copped the Asian Academy Creative Awards’ 2024 National Winner (Philippines) for Best Factual Presenter. 

She was an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) for 15 years as she worked in media outfits abroad such as in Tokyo and Hong Kong for Bloomberg TV Asia-Pacific and for Reuters TV Asia-Pacific. She also worked in Hong Kong as correspondent for the global English channel of China’s state television CCTV, now CGTN. 

Yang would travel back to the Philippines during weekends to be with her husband, dermatologist Dr. Gilbert Yang, and their two daughters, Angelica and Christine. It was her husband who was the “natay” (mother and father) during weekdays.

“I’ve always referred to myself as an OFW kasi (because) every weekend nga, bumibiyahe ako para kasama ko pamilya ko (I would travel to be with my family),” she told ABS-CBN News’ online arm in 2015. “This long-distance arrangement taught us how to appreciate quality time and also what is really important.”  

Yang returned to the Philippines for good in August 2015, rejoining ABS-CBN where she hosted programs in the ABS-CBN News Channel or ANC, such as Market Edge. Aside from being a news anchor, she was also the managing editor of ANC.

Angelica followed in her mother’s footsteps and became a journalist. She was a Rappler intern and a stringer for the ABS-CBN News website in 2019 and other media outfits. She then worked as multimedia reporter in BusinessWorld. 

Yang joined PLDT in August 2020 following the retirement of Mon Isberto as the PLDT Group’s public affairs chief. 

Yang is an alumna of De La Salle University, where she finished her AB Communication Arts degree. – Rappler.com