COMCO Mundo named as Agency of the Year in Asia and among 75 Best Agencies in the region at the SABRE APAC Awards 2026

There’s something special about seeing a Filipino-led organization earn recognition on the international stage especially when you’ve had the opportunity to work alongside the people behind it.

As someone who has worked with COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises, I’ve had a closer look at the passion, creativity, and strategic thinking that go into the work behind the scenes. So when COMCO was recently named Agency of the Year in Asia at the SABRE Awards Asia-Pacific 2026, it felt like a recognition worth celebrating not just for the organization, but for everyone who has been part of its journey.

The recognition comes at an especially meaningful time as COMCO Mundo celebrates its Decada De COMCO, its yearlong 10th Anniversary celebration.

Adding to the milestone, COMCO also became the only Philippine-led communications group included in PRovoke Media’s 75 Best Agencies in Asia-Pacific. For a Filipino-led communications group to be recognized alongside some of the region’s leading agencies is certainly something to be proud of.

And the awards weren’t simply about the scale of the organization. They recognized the kind of work that demonstrates how communications can create meaningful impact.

Among COMCO’s recognitions at the SABRE Awards Asia-Pacific 2026 was The Communications Olympiad: Rewriting Climate Change with the Next Gen Communications Practitioners, which received a Certificate of Excellence.

Spearheaded by COMCO School of Communications, the training and continuing education arm of COMCO Mundo, together with the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Philippines, the initiative focuses on empowering the next generation of PR and communications professionals to use strategic communications in addressing some of the world’s most pressing issues.

COMCO’s advocacy work was also recognized through Building a Better Nation for Every Child: The “Generation HOPE” initiative, which earned a Finalist Citation in the Corporate Social Responsibility Category.

The program tackles critical social and educational needs across the Philippines—another example of how communications can go beyond campaigns and messages to contribute to tangible community impact.

For those of us who work in or around communications, the SABRE Awards are a significant benchmark. Recognized as the world's largest and most prestigious public relations and communications awards competition, the awards celebrate "Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation" across North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), Latin America, and APAC (Asia-Pacific).

Produced by PRovoke Media, the SABRE Awards recognize campaigns that demonstrate strategic communications excellence, creative brilliance, and meaningful business and societal impact.

For COMCO, this latest recognition is also a reflection of how far the group has come in just a decade.

“Being hailed as Agency of the Year in Asia and recognized as one of the Best 75 Agencies in the Asia-Pacific are incredible recognitions for our teams from Southeast Asia to the Middle East, as well as for our country, as we are the only Philippine owned and led agency network honored in the list,” said Ferdinand L. Bondoy, Interregional President & Group Chief Executive and Head of Global & Strategic Communications / Partner & Co-Founder of COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises. “As we celebrate our 10th year, or our #DECADAdeCOMCO, these metals inspire us to keep pushing boundaries, championing meaningful storytelling, and showcasing Filipino, Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern communications excellence to the rest of the world.”

What I find particularly inspiring about this milestone is that these latest recognitions are not happening in isolation.

They add to COMCO’s growing list of international achievements this year, including wins at the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Global Gold Quill Awards, the Public Relations and Communications Association Asia-Pacific (PRCA APAC) Awards, and the Marketing-Interactive PR Awards Asia-Pacific.

Having the opportunity to work with a communications group that continues to push for craftsmanship, innovation, purpose, and meaningful storytelling makes these milestones even more rewarding to witness.

Congratulations to the entire COMCO Mundo team on this well-deserved recognition and here’s to the next chapter of #DECADAdeCOMCO

We’re Not Resilient. We’re Just Out of Options.

Filipinos deserve better.

There is something deeply frustrating about being a customer in an industry where you don't really have a choice. Take utilities and telecommunications. We are constantly asked to be patient, to understand that technical problems happen, that repairs take time, and that not everything is within a company's control. And yes, we do understand. Filipinos have always been remarkably understanding and resilient. But perhaps we have celebrated that resilience for too long.

Because being resilient should not mean being expected to tolerate poor service.

Take Globe, for example. They have done meaningful work through their CSR initiatives and campaigns, and those efforts are worth recognizing. But there is another side of corporate responsibility that happens much closer to home: the everyday experience of the customer.

When your connection goes down, when a problem isn't resolved as expected, or when you have to follow up repeatedly just to get an update, those are the moments that shape how people actually experience a company.

And this isn't really about Globe alone. It is about what happens when essential services operate in markets where consumers have limited choices. In a truly competitive market, poor service gives customers the power to leave. But what happens when there are only a few major providers? What if switching isn't practical? What if your work, business, education, or everyday life depends on the service? You stay. You wait. You adjust. You become patient because you have to.

And somewhere along the way, we started calling this resilience.

But is it really resilience when people are simply enduring something because they have no alternative?

Maybe resilience should be about how we rise after adversity, not how much inconvenience, inefficiency, or poor service we can continuously absorb.

Companies will always have problems. Systems will fail. Unexpected things will happen. We aren't asking for perfection. We are asking for accountability, communication, urgency, and respect for the people who depend on these services.

Corporate responsibility isn't only about the big things a company does for society. It is also reflected in the thousands of ordinary interactions between a company and its customers every day.

And perhaps it's time we stopped romanticizing the Filipino's ability to “tiisin na lang.” We shouldn't have to be endlessly patient simply because we have no choice. We shouldn't have to celebrate ourselves for surviving experiences that could have been better in the first place.

Filipinos deserve better.

Better service. Better accountability. Better choices. And companies that don't mistake our patience for acceptance.

Because being resilient is admirable.

But having to be resilient all the time is exhausting.

And maybe the goal shouldn't be to raise a generation of Filipinos who can endure anything.

Maybe the goal should be to build a country where Filipinos don't have to.

----------------

P.S. Day 7 without internet. The 5th tech visit has been rescheduled again. So yes, this piece on patience and resilience may be a little more personal than I intended.