Rico Hizon

Federico "Rico" Morales Hizon (; ; born March 24, 1966), is a Filipino broadcast journalist. He is currently the Senior Vice President for Corporate Relations of SM Investment Corp. since May 6, 2024.

Hizon previously worked at BBC World News, anchoring Newsday and Asia Business Report, CNBC Asia, and CNN Philippines. He was the first Filipino anchor for both news networks.

Education After gaining a degree in Communication Arts and Business at De La Salle University, Hizon taught radio, Television and Broadcasting courses at the university. He also has a Doctorate Degree in Humanities, Honoris Causa, from the University of Northeastern Philippines.

Career Prior to becoming a journalist, Hizon began working at the age of 16 for McDonald's at its first Philippines branch in Manila, where he was part of its inaugural crew, and later at another branch in Greenhills, San Juan.

GMA Network Hizon started his broadcast career at Manila-based GMA Network, from 1988 to 1995, where he was responsible for covering capital markets, banking and finance, real estate, investment and corporate developments. He anchored the daily business program, Business Today, GMA News Live and Stock Market Live from the trading floor of the Philippine Stock Exchange. During his tenure, Hizon won "The Outstanding Young Men for Broadcast Journalism" award.

CNN Philippines A few weeks later, it was reported that Hizon would return to the Philippines and join CNN Philippines as senior anchor and director for news content development. The memo sent out by CNN Philippines president Armie Jarin-Bennett says Hizon will take over the 9 PM newscast. He also announced his move to the network on his Twitter account.

By April 2020, Hizon solidified his presence as a trusted source of news in his native Philippines through his late-night newscast The Final Word, as well as anchoring CNN Philippines's newest business show, The Exchange, which launched in July. Hizon was also part of the network's State of the Nation Address coverage that same month - his first SONA coverage in the Philippines since 1995. He anchored a cumulative 7 hours that day - starting with the network's 2pm coverage where he joined Chief Correspondent and Anchor Pia Hontiveros and Senior Anchor and Correspondent Pinky Webb until the President's speech ended and for a post-SONA analysis with ADR Stratbase analyst Dindo Manhit and former Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.

During his tenure, he won several awards including his program The Final Word by the Asian Academy Creative Awards on 2020 & 2023 and the 28th Asian Television Awards in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam last January 2024.

Post-CNN Philippines and ABS-CBN News Channel Following the closure of CNN Philippines on 2024, Hizon made an appearance on NET 25's Kada Umaga. In May 2024, Hizon became the editor-in-chief of the news media website GoodNewsPilipinas.com. In September, Hizon became SM Investments's senior vice president for corporate relations and the host of YouTube vlog SM in Focus.

On October 29, 2024, Hizon joined ABS-CBN News Channel with his new business talkshow Beyond the Exchange, premiered on November 5. He also guested as an entertainment host on ABS-CBN's flagship news program TV Patrol on November 4, 2024.

Legal issues In 2024, a court in Angeles City ordered the arrest of Hizon and his sisters Maria Belen and Bernadette after their eldest brother Ernesto filed a case against them for fraud relating an inheritance dispute. The three posted bail of P120,000 each.