MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Two Filipina business leaders, Mariana Zobel de Ayala and Mybelle Aragon-GoBio, have earned spots on the prestigious Forbes Asia’s Power Businesswomen 2025 list.
The annual compilation, released on November 3, 2025, recognizes 20 women across Asia who are making a significant impact on the region’s dynamic business and economic environment.
According to Forbes, this year’s list highlights 20 accomplished leaders who are at the “forefront of the region’s fast-evolving business and economic landscape.”
“More than half of the women are high-performing professional managers with proven track records in fields such as banking, consumer goods and transportation. Three are first-generation entrepreneurs, including one who has launched two profitable unicorns,” Forbes wrote.
It also noted the trailblazers, including those involved in sectors powered by artificial intelligence and advanced tech, such as data centers, semiconductors, and rare earths, as well as those continuing family legacies.
The inclusion of Mariana and Mybelle marks a jump from 2024, when Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso, President of Megaworld, was the sole Filipino executive on the list.
Mybelle Aragon-GoBio
Mybelle Aragon-GoBio, 52, stands out as the President and CEO of Robinsons Land (RLC), a subsidiary of the massive JG Summit conglomerate. She is the first woman and the first non-family member to lead the property developer, which was founded in 1980 by the late John Gokongwei. She was praised by Lance Gokongwei, the executive chairman and son of the founder, as “the best (hu)man for the job.”
Aragon-GoBio’s journey with RLC began in 1993 as an administrative assistant, as per Forbes. She climbed the corporate ladder by successfully leading logistics, residential, and office projects. In May, she rolled out an ambitious five-year, PHP 125 billion ($2.2 billion) expansion blueprint for the company.
Her long-term vision aims to double the company’s net income to PHP 25 billion by 2030, which includes expanding the mall portfolio to 69 from 55, and grow its office portfolio by 50% to 1.2 million square meters of leasable space, boosting hotel rooms by 25% to 5,300, and doubling logistics capacity while building new mixed-use estates.
Aragon-GoBio holds degrees in management engineering and international business from the University of Antwerp.
Mariana Zobel de Ayala
Mariana Zobel de Ayala, 37, represents the eighth generation of the family controlling Ayala Corp., the Philippines’ oldest conglomerate. She heads the leasing and hospitality segment of its property arm, Ayala Land.
Under her leadership, Ayala Land is driving significant expansion in retail and hotels. The redevelopment of eight existing malls and the construction of new ones is expected to expand the company’s gross leasable area by a third, reaching 2.9 million square meters by 2028.
Simultaneously, she is managing a $500 million (PHP 29 billion) investment in hospitality that will nearly double Ayala Land’s hotel rooms to 8,000 by 2030. This expansion includes the 578-room New World Makati, acquired in June from Hong Kong’s New World Development, alongside planned opening of properties like Mandarin Oriental, Marriott’s Moxy, and Hilton’s Canopy hotels in the Makati financial district next year, per Forbes.
Forbes Asia noted that Mariana was appointed Ayala Corp.’s managing director in March, 12 years after she left her job as an investment analyst at JPMorgan in New York to join the 191-year-old, banking-to-property group.
Meanwhile, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Studies (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) from Harvard and an M.B.A. from INSEAD, earned in 2020. She was named Senior Vice President at Ayala Land three years later. The unit she leads delivered a record PHP 23.2 billion ($397 million) in sales during the first half of 2025, accounting for over a quarter of the developer’s total revenue.
