Eala leads Pinoy entries in Forbes 30 Under 30 list

MANILA, Philippines — Tennis ace Alex Eala and pop star Zack Tabudlo are among several Filipinos who made it to this year’s 30 Under 30 Asia by Forbes, a list composed of 300 outstanding young entrepreneurs, leaders and innovators across the Asia-Pacific region.

Selected from a pool of close to 4,000 nominations, the class of 2026, all under the age of 30, are regarded as the “brightest young sparks across the region” who are pushing boundaries in their respective fields.

They were selected across 10 categories spanning AI (artificial intelligence); Consumer & Enterprise Technology; Entertainment & Sports; Finance & Venture
 Capital; Healthcare & Science; Industry, Manufacturing & Energy; Retail & Ecommerce; Social Impact; Social Media, Marketing & Advertising and The Arts (Art & Style, Food & Drink).

Eala and Tabudlo are part of this year’s list under the Entertainment & Sports category.

Forbes said Eala got Filipinos fired up about tennis after she broke into the Women’s Tennis Association’s Top 50 last year, wherein she became the country’s highest-ranking player in modern history after climbing as far as No. 29 in March.

Tabudlo, for his part, was regarded as the most-streamed Philippine artist of 2022 based on Spotify figures and is behind the hit songs “Pano” and “Give Me Your Forever.”

Three Filipinos, meanwhile, landed under the Social Impact category: Saje Miguel Molato, Steph Naval and Emmanuel Mirus Ponon.

Molato founded Siklab, a consulting firm that works with government, nonprofit and private sector partners on education, skills development and climate programs, while Naval is the founder of Empath, a social enterprise that provides online counseling, psychotherapy and psychiatric consultations to schools, workplaces and non-profit organizations.

Ponon is the founder of an organization called the ASEAN Youth Advocates Network which encourages young people across Southeast Asian countries to participate in policy making, peace-building and sustainable development.

Included in the list under the Retail & Ecommerce category are Pauline Dizon and Adrian Jumangit, cofounders of fandom-based business Fan Connection SEA; Kiyanusch Braun and Martin Joaquin Palaña, cofounders of digital platform GoRocky and Kharl Christian Yeung, cofounder of pet food company Amico Innovations.

Brandon Angelo Wong and Raphael Sevilla, cofounders of BayaniChain Tech, a company that builds blockchain systems for governments and companies, likewise made the list under the Consumer & Enterprise Technology category.

The 2026 list features personalities from 18 countries and territories across the Asia-Pacific region, roughly a quarter of whom are women and the average age is 26.

Forbes said India registered the most entries with 78, followed by China with 46, Australia with 38 and Japan with 32. Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea each have 18.