Karen Gayle Puno-Igaya, former head of ABS-CBN News Digital, passed away Friday, her family has confirmed. She was 44.

“It’s with the saddest heart that I regret to announce that Karen, my wife, best friend and partner has passed away. She fought bravely but ultimately she lost her battle with cancer on January 29, 2021," Puno-Igaya’s husband, Greg, said in a statement.

“Our family finds solace in knowing that she is now home with our good Lord in Heaven."

Until her retirement in mid-2019, Puno-Igaya headed ABS-CBN News Digital and shepherded the transformation of news.abs-cbn.com and its social channels and pages into robust, competitive, and widely followed news digital platforms.

Prior to assuming the leadership of News Digital in 2014, Puno-Igaya was head of ANC business operations, where she mastered the different aspects of broadcast production including technical operations and even set design. She was behind successful ANC programs such as the long-running “Stock Market Live” and “Executive Class.”

A longtime Kapamilya, KP - as she was fondly called by friends and colleagues - joined ABS-CBN right after graduation in 1997 via the defunct Skycable News, where she began as an online writer. It was the start of a digital full circle that culminated with her leadership of the company’s news digital platforms.

“She was a writer, executive producer, manager of events who also led our technical and set design teams... a master planner for our numerous events, forums, debates and special projects.” said Regina “Ging” Reyes, head of ABS-CBN News.

“Unfazed by challenges, KP was always ready for the next assignment. She embraced change and was brave enough to take on Digital News, which reached new heights during the five years that she led it,” Reyes added.

"For the near-impossible tasks, for the long days and sleepless nights you endured, for your listening ear, thank you KP," she added.

Puno-Igaya’s News Digital colleagues described her as “a go-getter... who got things done” even as they admitted having been intimidated by her strong and straight-talking personality.

Journalist Glenda Gloria, former chief operating officer of ANC, said Puno-Igaya was “every leader’s dream manager.”

“(She was) one who carried the load with grace, who made things happen without tooting her own horn, who was not afraid to say you’re wrong or delusional, who never lost sight of the goals yet mastered the tactics to get there. In meetings, she would cut to the chase, summarize a problem, and offer a way forward. I don’t recall her coming to me with a problem without a solution at hand,” said Gloria who is now Rappler executive editor.

Puno-Igaya’s family invited her friends and colleagues in celebrating the wonderful life she lived during a public viewing at Arlington Faith Chapel on Araneta Avenue in Quezon City starting 4 pm Saturday, January 30 until the morning of Monday, February 1.

Her remains will be cremated on Monday afternoon and transferred to her hometown in Cabanatuan City, for an urn viewing at the Serenity Chapel beginning 6 pm Monday until the evening of Wednesday.

Interment will be on Thursday, February 4.