Filipina property executives Mariana Zobel de Ayala and Mybelle V. Aragon-Gobio were named to Forbes Asia’s 2025 list of the region's Power Businesswomen, cementing their status as regional heavyweights.

The magazine said the list recognized female leaders with proven track records for their influence at the forefront of Asia’s rapidly changing business and economic sectors.

Rana Wehbe Watson, Forbes Asia editorial director, noted that the women are “not just adapting to change, but actively shaping the future of the region’s business landscape,” forging paths in sectors like data centers and semiconductors while guiding family businesses to new heights.

All 20 women, who hail from a dozen countries and territories, are newcomers to the list. They include professional managers in banking and transportation, first-generation entrepreneurs, and executives powering the AI and advanced technology boom.

Zobel de Ayala, an eighth-generation heiress, is shaping the future of the Philippines’ oldest conglomerate, Ayala Corp., where she heads the leasing and hospitality business of its property arm, Ayala Land Inc. (ALI).

Her team is overseeing a $1.5 billion program to refresh the extensive portfolio of malls, offices, and hotels. The redevelopment of eight existing malls and the construction of new ones is expected to boost gross leasable area by a third to 2.9 million square meters by 2028.

Zobel de Ayala is also driving a $500 million hospitality outlay to nearly double ALI’s room inventory to 8,000 by 2030. This includes the 578-room New World Makati, acquired in June, and plans to open new Mandarin Oriental, Marriott’s Moxy, and Hilton’s Canopy hotels in the Makati financial district next year.

She was appointed an Ayala Corp. managing director in March, 12 years after leaving her role as an investment analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. Zobel de Ayala, who holds an MBA from Insead, was named an ALI senior vice president in 2023. The leasing and hospitality unit she leads reported a record ₱23.2 billion in sales in the first half of 2025, accounting for over a quarter of ALI’s revenue.

Meanwhile, Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the property arm of JG Summit Holdings Inc., named Aragon-Gobio its president and chief executive officer in February.

Aragon-Gobio is the first woman and non-family member to lead the developer, which was founded in 1980 by the late John Gokongwei. Executive Chairman Lance Gokongwei described her as "The best (hu)man for the job" in a social media post.

Aragon-Gobio joined RLC in 1993 as an administrative assistant and later oversaw the company’s logistics, residential, and office projects. In May, she rolled out a five-year, ₱125 billion expansion plan.

Her roadmap aims to double net income to ₱25 billion by 2030, increase the number of malls to 69 from 55, and expand its office portfolio by 50 percent to 1.2 million square meters of leasable space. The plan also includes a 25 percent increase in hotel rooms to 5,300 and a doubling of logistics capacity.

The full list is available on Forbes Asia's website and in its November issue.