The Philippines’ finest triumph at milestone 13th PropertyGuru Awards gala

An evening honouring top developers, visionary leaders, and groundbreaking achievements in Philippine real estate

The Shangri-La The Fort, Manila was the stage for the 13th PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards on 15 August 2025, where the country’s most distinguished real estate developers, projects, and industry leaders gathered to honour achievements that continue to shape the nation’s built environment. 

Throughout the stringent year-long judging process, the Chairperson of the independent panel of judges in the Philippines, Cyndy Tan Jarabata, shared that choosing the winners do get tougher each year, but “it does prove that you have developers across the country, even if this has been their portfolio for a long time, they would always look at other niche markets, and it’s one way to say that [they] you are able to adapt to the market. That’s the beauty of working with developers.

When it comes to the PPP’s of marketing, people comes first, product for what you’re going to put together, pricing for when you come up with promotion, but the other new P is purpose. The purpose of developers in terms of making it a point that, whatever they put together really addresses the need of the market.”

Presented by Kohler and supported by Boysen Paints, the 2025 gala marked two significant milestones: 13 years of recognising excellence in Philippine real estate and the 20th anniversary of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards series. Guests enjoyed an evening of celebration across 69 competitive categories, including the introduction of new accolades such as the ESG Developer Awards and distinctions for Best Township Developer, Best Oceanview Developments, and Best Multigeneration Living Developments. 

Robinsons Land clinches 4th consecutive Best Developer win

The night’s highest honour, Best Developer (Philippines), went to Robinsons Land for the fourth year running. The developer’s extensive list of wins this year included recognition for projects such as GBF Center 2 and The Mall at NUSTAR, alongside sustainability-focused developments that underscored its industry leadership. 

Honouring lifetime impact

In celebration of the Asia Property Awards’ 20th anniversary, the inaugural Philippines Life Achievement Award was presented to Lance Y. Gokongwei, Chairman of Robinsons Land Corporation. Selected by the editors of Property Report by PropertyGuru and endorsed by the judging panel, the award recognised his more than two decades of leadership, ethical stewardship, and transformative contributions to Philippine real estate. 

Spotlight on individual excellence

Other major individual awards included the Philippines Real Estate Personality of the Year, granted to Rafael Fernandez de Mesa, President and CEO of Aboitiz Land, Inc. and Head of Aboitiz InfraCapital Economic Estates, for his visionary leadership in industrial and mixed-use developments. The Philippines Rising Star Award was bestowed upon Jessica Bianca T. Sy, Vice President and Head of Design, Innovation and Strategy at SM Prime and SMDC, for her forward-thinking approach and influence on the future of urban living. 

ESG leadership recognised

The ESG Developer Awards segment spotlighted companies integrating environmental, social, and governance principles into their operations. RLC Residences received the Energy Efficiency Award, RLove by Robinsons Land Foundation, Inc. won the Social Impact Award, while I-Land, Inc. and RLC Residences were both honoured with the Sustainable Design Award. 

A night of triumph and camaraderie

From design and development accolades to regional ‘Best of the Philippines’ titles, the awards underscored the diversity and innovation within the sector. Guests enjoyed live entertainment, a gourmet dinner, and the much-anticipated Stars of the Night style awards before the evening concluded in signature PropertyGuru fashion — with a grand group photo on stage, showers of confetti, and a shared sense of pride in Philippine real estate. 

The top winners from this year’s gala will advance to the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final on 12 December in Bangkok, where they will compete for the prestigious ‘Best in Asia’ honours as part of PropertyGuru Week, alongside the Asia Real Estate Summit. 

Gynen Kyra Toriano, Digital Content Manager at PropertyGuru, wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected].