Meet Esquire Philippines' Man at His Best 2025 Awardees

Every year, Esquire Philippines presents Man at His Best, the local iteration of a global signature event where we celebrate extraordinary Filipino men and women reshaping society as we know it. These are the dreamers and doers who have made a profound impact on the Filipino's way of life, who are using their talents and skills to make something of themselves and inspire the rest of us to do better with our lives.

This year, we're honoring eight visionaries in film, politics, music, business, F&B, journalism, and literature. They are the Architects of Tomorrow: laying the groundwork for a better, more progressive country—embodying what it means to be a Man at His Best.

When Jericho Rosales got the phone call from director Jerrold Tarog offering him the part of Manuel Quezon, it couldn’t have come at a more fortuitous time. The prolific actor, producer, musician, and businessman—always in-demand in the entertainment business as much for his authentic and committed performances as for his matinee idol good looks—had recently made the conscious decision to focus on making quality films.

While his plate was never empty, with constant projects running the gamut from soaps, TV commercials, events, online engagements, and other business opportunities, he was looking to do more work for and on the big screen. After all, it’s been years since his last couple of movies; The Girl in the Orange Dress in 2018, and the surfing film Siargao the year before. He began compiling a list of writers, producers, and directors he wanted to work with and prayed to God that the right project would come along.

“’Hello, do you want to play Quezon?’ Rosales quoted Tarog as saying in that phone call. ‘Okay ka lang ba na sasaluhin mo yung role?’” Tarog was referring to the fact that President Quezon was last played in Goyo, Ang Batang Heneral, the second of his trilogy of Filipino historical films, by TJ Trinidad. Rosales said he didn’t care. It was an easy yes.

A CONVERSATION WITH FELLOW ACTOR MON CONFIADO:
Jericho Rosales: ‘The Most Reliable, Efficient, Dependable Actors are the Ones Who Know Themselves’

Sixty-six-year old filmmaker Lavrente Indico Diaz has made some of the most critically acclaimed films in Philippine cinema. From the sprawling, 10-and-a-half hour generational epic Evolution of a Filipino Family to the five-hour crime drama Batang West Side, Diaz tells the stories he wants to tell in the way he wants to tell them.

His mastery of slow cinema has earned for him a notable collection of little golden animals: a Golden Leopard from the Locarno Film Festival in 2014; a Golden Bear from the 66th and 68th Berlin International Film Festivals; and a Golden Lion from the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. The self-proclaimed chronicler who has delivered long, languid glimpses into the Philippine experience goes back 500 years in his latest project to look at Magellan, the man, Lapu-Lapu, the myth, and how their story became the legend we know today.

A CONVERSATION WITH FILM CRITIC ZACH YONZON:
‘We Need Heroes, But We Also Need the Truth’: A Conversation With Lav Diaz

If Bam Aquino existed in a parallel timeline, he would have been a different kind of household name, though the summa cum laude in BS Management Engineering would still be part of his resumé. Because brilliance like his is bound to manifest in any universe.

But instead of the Senate floor, maybe you’d find him behind a podcast mic, turning deep dives into binge-worthy entertainment. Or building ventures that made him one of the country’s most admired social entrepreneurs. In this version of the story, politics would have been too messy, too constraining.

After all, he’d be the type to thrive anywhere else—from boardrooms to classrooms, to grassroots communities. Had history tilted even slightly, he could’ve been in Silicon Valley leading a startup, or somewhere in Asia, running an NGO that reshapes lives.

You could even imagine him winning a Ramon Magsaysay Award. It’s not that far-fetched. After all, we’re talking about Bam Aquino.

A CONVERSATION WITH POLITICAL COMMENTATOR GERRY CACANINDIN:
Sen. Bam Aquino: 'Marami Tayo. Dumadami Pa Tayo. We Shouldn't Feel Powerless'

After IV of Spades' debut album that was a critical and commercial hit, the band became household names and certified hitmakers. Later on, they went their separate ways to find their own sound.

While their solo projects showcased growth in exploring their sonic and conceptual abilities, the band has since regrouped and released new songs as a foursome, all with varying moods and tones, but still carrying the distinct IV of Spades sound.

What made it the right time for the boys to regroup after almost a decade apart? Zild says it was because of their yearning for collaboration and how they realized that they were all big fans of each other’s own music. Unique also cited the stars aligning for the boys’ mental fortitude and friendship deepening during their years apart.

A CONVERSATION WITH MUSICIAN MIKE HANOPOL:
IV of Spades: 'Minsan Gusto Namin Mapag-Isa. Pero Okay Din Pala Yung May Mga Kasama'

When Dennis Anthony Uy talks about technology, his eyes light up with the same energy he must have had as an 11-year-old boy tinkering with broken refrigerators in his uncle’s supermarket. “At that young age,” he recalls, “I discovered my passion and interest in technology. I remember thinking, ‘One of these days, I want to be like all these skilled technical people.’ That’s where my passion for technology began.”

That spark—ignited in a dusty backroom filled with motors and wiring—would, decades later, lead to one of the Philippines’ most transformative companies: Converge ICT.

Today, Uy is one of the country’s most successful entrepreneurs—a self-made technologist whose foresight and grit have reshaped Philippine internet connectivity. In 2020, the initial public offering of Converge ICT became one of the most successful in Philippine history, raising nearly P30 billion and catapulting Uy and his wife, Maria Grace Uy, into the ranks of dollar billionaires. Yet, he remains rooted in the same hands-on, engineering-driven mindset that powered his journey from China and then to Pampanga and eventually into the boardrooms of global investors.

A CONVERSATION WITH STARTUP FOUNDER CARLO ALMENDRAL:
Dennis Anthony Uy: ‘Digital Connectivity Today is a Basic Human Right’

Growth cannot be forced or faked. To earn experience and achieve maturity, you have to go through the rigors and challenges of the culinary profession. Chef Jorge Mendez—the mind behind successful concepts like Ohayo Comfort Food, Modan, Mugen Ramenya, Some Thai, and Makanai—is living proof of this truth. 

Two of Mendez’s restaurants have earned distinction from the Michelin Guide: his modern Japanese restaurant Modan was named Michelin Selected, while his contemporary Thai concept Some Thai received the coveted Bib Gourmand for offering exceptional food at great value. These recognitions highlight his ability to take familiar Asian flavors and reinterpret them with creativity, precision, and a strong sense of identity.

A CONVERSATION WITH ACTOR-TURNED-RESTAURATEUR MARVIN AGUSTIN:
Chef Jorge Mendez: ‘Good Food Comes from a Place of Joy’

What does it mean to hold the line and when do journalists need to make the truth accessible especially across different social platforms and verticals? Rappler Executive Editor Glenda Gloria is no stranger to that climate of fear that can oftentimes go along with the vocation.

For her, it is paramount for journalists to tell real stories from people by going out of their way to knock on doors and to scour for documents following money trails leading to the truth. "It's really the people who have seen the worst parts of this country,” she says about recruiting new journalists to join the team. “You know, it's grit. Who did not have it easy? I've always made that bet, never failed.”

A CONVERSATION WITH FELLOW JOURNALIST ATOM ARAULLO:
Glenda Gloria 'You Become a Journalist Because You Want to Serve the Public.'

Butch Dalisay was the OG prodigy, the dude who fiddled with things and made things out of them: a story, a poem, a play, a screenplay. He was one of the original cross-platform dudes, too, coming about a generation after muscular multitaskers such as Alfred Yuson and Ricky Lee.

Besides his stories, novels, plays, and screenplays, he has written biographies of famous people, presidential speeches, annual reports, coffee table books—in other words, the stuff the business of writing is made of.

A CONVERSATION WITH FELLOW NOVELIST SARGE LACUESTA: To Penmanship

All photos by Paul Sugano.

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