Ali Sotto (Tagalog pronunciation: [ˈsɔtɔ]; born Maria Aloha Leilani Sancianco Carag; May 29, 1961) is a Filipino actress, radio broadcaster and news anchor and former singer. Her previous screen name was Aloha and now Ali Sotto. She was popularly heard on radio programs of Super Radyo DZBB 594, Saksi sa Dobol B: Sino? and Dobol A sa Dobol B with Arnold Clavio.[1]
Ali was named Aloha by her parents as they married in Hawaii. Her mother was a professor in Food and Nutrition at the University of Santo Tomas. Her father was with the US Navy until 1969.[2] She is the youngest in the family and has three brothers (Allan, Alvin & AJ).[3]
Sotto was separated from her first husband Maru Sotto, but they remained intimate friends. Today, she is married to her second husband, Omar Bsaies, an American-Tunisian who is a retired foreign diplomat.[4]
As Maru Sotto's wife, Helen Gamboa and Dina Bonnevie were her sisters-in-law and the Sotto brothers were her brothers-in-law: Val, Tito and Vic Sotto. With Maru, they had two children, Chino Sotto and late actor Miko Sotto.
Ali was discovered by George Canseco at the Inter-University Songfest at FEU in November 1976.
She was a host of the television shows Ali! and Metro, which was the sole public service program at that time on television, and the only public affiliate program of ABC (now 5) that earns. She used to co-host Sino? with Mike Enriquez and Arnold Clavio from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM and Dobol A sa Dobol B, a DZBB program, with Clavio every Monday to Friday from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM until 2020.
It was an exception that TV hosts could invite successive showbiz names as their guests in just a few months. These were Vilma Santos, Maricel Soriano, Sharon Cuneta, Susan Roces and Dolphy. She was the only one who was courageous enough to ask questions directly to Susan Roces if she believed Fernando Poe Jr. had an illegitimate child.
After her son, Miko, passed away in December 2003, she co-founded INA (Inang Naulila sa Anak) Foundation, a foundation whose mission statement is "to provide psycho-social support to its members and other mothers who have also lost their children through projects and programs aimed at helping them move on from a place of grief to a place of hope – empowering them to reach out to others".[5]