Time Magazine names Vico Sotto, Manny Jacinto as among 100 most influential rising stars

Vico Sotto and Manny Jacinto have made it to Time’s Magazine 100 most influential rising stars.

The Pasig City Mayor was recognized in the leader category, with award-winning journalist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Maria Ressa highlighting Vico’s fight against corruption.

“In the Philippines, fighting corruption feels like death by a thousand cuts — each small victory eroded by the system’s capacity to regenerate. But Vico Sotto is proving it can be done,” Ressa wrote. 

“At 36, Pasig City’s mayor has toppled a 27-year family dynasty not through money or machinery, but through radical transparency: a 24/7 information and complaints hotline, public procurement that’s livestreamed, and the slashing of project costs by eliminating kickbacks,” she added. 

Ressa also recognized Vico’s efforts in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in their city and lauded his leadership.

“His courageous approach—data-driven, direct, and empathetic—is a master?class in modern, ethical leadership and has twice won him re-­election, including in May. It’s a testament to the power of the individual to ignite a movement for change,” she said on Time. 

Meanwhile, Filipino-Canadian actor Manny Jacinto was listed in the artist category, who was praised by Emmy-winning writer and producer Alan Yang for his talent and kindness. 

“One of the greatest joys of my time working in film and TV has been the revelation that talent and kindness aren’t mutually exclusive. Manny Jacinto is the perfect example,” Yang wrote on Time.

Yang also highlighted his versatility as an actor in playing the role of Jason Mendoza in “The Good Place,” Qimir in “The Acolyte,” and Erik Reyes in “Freakier Friday.” 

“Sure, he has incredible range as an actor—from performing so-dumb-it’s-smart comedy in ‘The Good Place’ to pulling off how-did-he-do-that physical feats on ‘The Acolyte’ to effortlessly charming Lindsay Lohan and moviegoers worldwide in Freakier Friday,” Yang said. 

“But more importantly, Manny is fundamentally, elementally, constitutionally good,” he added. 

According to Yang, Manny is a “fiercely loyal friend,” who dotes on his family and loves his wife Dianne Doan. 

“Together, they’re a couple so perfect, you might think they were engineered in a lab, if they weren’t also so funny and human,” he said. 

Launched in 2019, TIME100 Next recognizes young leaders from the worlds of AI, Climate, Creators, Health, and Philanthropy.

Aside from Vico and Manny, this year's list includes celebrities such as Megan Stalter, Gracie Abrams, Jonathan Bailey, Ocean Vuong, Monica Barbaro, and Take McRae in this year's list. — Jade Veronique Yap/LA, GMA Integrated News