Industrial designer Kenneth Cobonpue is well-known in the furniture world. His remarkable style and variety of rattan, bamboo, and abaca creations have received numerous recognitions and praises from Hollywood stars and Asian design institutions.

A few of the awards he received were Hong Kong's Design for Asia Award, the Japan Good Design Award, the American Society of Interior Designers Selection, the French Coup de Coeur Award, and the first Asian Designer of the Year title given by the Maison et Objet in Paris.

Cobonpue began his speech with a rather humorous punch line. He quipped that his creations are renowned worldwide, more than himself. "The truth is I have always been jealous of my collections. In some parts of the world, they are in demand, but no one ever notices me," he said. 

"I am humbled that this award recognises the impact made in our country and internationally. Thank you again, Tatler, for this recognition for this memorable evening. I accept this award on behalf of my team, my mother Betty Cobonpue, the artisans, and craftsmen who show the beauty and greatness of our country to the world."

See also: Kenneth Cobonpue on the importance of contributing to the longevity of craftsmanship

Journalist Maria Ressa is the first Filipino Nobel Prize winner honoured by UNESCO for upholding freedom of speech. Among her recent achievements is getting the 2021 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize in recognition of her efforts to ensure the integrity of Philippine journalists. 

Ressa is an inaugural Carnegie Distinguished Fellow at Columbia University’s newly launched Institute of Global Politics. In July 2024, Ressa will join the university’s School of International and Public Affairs as a professor of professional practice.

“My life has been a lot of ups and downs, from the time when I had to sit and be okay with maybe more than spending my life in jail to not having dinner with you because I don’t want you to get targeted,” she recalled.

Ressa further shared a philosophy between her and Rappler co-founders: the ‘passing of fear’ among the four of them at the worst times. “What kept us going through [the worst of times] is the idea that this is an incredibly historic moment for all of us—that what you do tonight. . .” Ressa pointed at the Tatler Ball guests, which included some of the most influential personalities in the country’s economy, diplomatic circle, politics, and other industries, “. . .will determine not just where we are, where [Tatler] is, where the country goes”. The Diamond Awardee said this, referring to the proliferation of artificial intelligence that could “turn the world upside down”.

“So we need to imagine what we wanted to be [as Filipinos] together,” Ressa said.

The Nobel Prize laureate raised two questions in her speech: step back when you start to feel that the technology that we have in our pockets could incite fear, anger, and hate—and look for the good; ask ourselves what we are willing to sacrifice for truth, “because that’s what we need. A shared, common reality. So that we can move forward and create a better future, I am tremendously optimistic. I think the Philippines is in a great place. We must move forward together.”

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