TFC’s Hollywood reporter wins International Media Award 

The Filipino Channel’s Yong Chavez won the International Media Award at the 60th Annual ICG Publicists Awards. IGC

LOS ANGELES – Yong Chavez, Hollywood correspondent of ABS-CBN’s TFC News, won the International Media Award at the 60th Annual ICG Publicists Awards.

The winners were announced on Friday, at the awards luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hilton.

Receiving the award on the same weekend as the Oscars where “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once” scored a breakthrough for Asian talent, was “wonderfully surreal” for Chavez.

“For years I looked for any Asian talent at all the red carpets I covered. I put a spotlight on them and fought for their representation. So, to see them celebrated now in such a huge way and for my own humble award to coincidentally be given on the same weekend and same award season is mind-blowing to me.”

Recipe for Success

Chavez shares that her recipe for success is to “always be the hardest worker in the room. But hard work isn’t enough sometimes. You have to work smart, so you don’t burn out.”

She also adds a very important point: “Be kind. The universe has a way of rewarding you back for anything you selflessly do for others. And remember always what matters most: your personal relationships and your respect for yourself.”

Unknown to most, Chavez’ full time job for more than 15 years until 2021 was as a TV/film English and Tagalog subtitle editor for the deaf and hard of hearing.

The flexibility in the schedule allowed her to cover Hollywood news for Balitang America (now TFC News), TV Patrol, and ANC.

Chavez explains that “Flex time made it possible but note that I didn’t say ‘easy’. It was difficult, but I did it happily because reporting was my passion while the salary I received from the regular job went to my mom and my sister in the Philippines, especially when my mom got sick.”

When Chavez’ mother and sister passed in quick succession, she continued working the grueling schedule until the pandemic when “the great resignation/life reevaluation happened to so many people, including me. I quit the regular job, but then started joining organizations like the HFPA and the HCA which also kept me busy and helped me improve myself and my careers in other ways.”

She muses, “It was a hard climb, but it was well worth it. I worked for my dreams. It was years of blood, sweat, and tears. But I didn’t do it alone. I have my family. I have my friends. And I have my ABS-CBN and TFC family who believed in me and my audacious dreams.”

Read the full list of winners and nominees from the 60th Annual ICG Publicists Awards  here.