[5] At his teenage years, Sonza worked at DXGE, a radio station in Davao City, where his media career later began[4] as disc jockey and news anchor.
[11][13] In ABS-CBN, Mel and Jay premiered on DZMM in 1987;[12] a few years later, it aired on Channel 2[12] as a Sunday talk show[14] and public affairs program[11] with the same title,[5][10] which was Sonza's first television appearance.
[5][10] Aside from these, he also became part of RPN-9 in 2000 where his program, Tapatan, was moved from GMA-7;[11] he once worked as news anchor at ABC-5 in 2001[5] but later resigned due to pressure at his own consultancy firm.
[11][16] Also worked for publications, Sonza became a People's Daily Forum editor and a correspondent of the Philippine News Agency and two Mindanao-based periodicals.
[15] Sonza reportedly had been interested in politics, as both Lapian ng Masang Pilipino and Lakas parties invited him to be in their senatorial lineup in the 2001 elections.
[11] He later unsuccessfully ran thrice for various political positions; twice for the Congress: in 2004, for senator under Alyansa ng Pag-asa coalition[20] and Aksyon Demokratiko; and in 2007, for sectoral representative, being a BATAS party-list nominee.
[5][10] In 2010, being among the eight vice presidential candidates,[21] he ran under the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan[22][23] with his running mate disqualified by the Commission on Elections during the campaign.
[4] On April 30, 1996, Sonza filed a complaint against ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation before the Department of Labor and Employment, due to allegations of unpaid salaries and fees.
The contract, stating that the two were exclusive talent of ABS-CBN until 1997, was breached however as they agreed with GMA-7 to produce Partners Mel and Jay a year prior.
[29] The cases were dismissed by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) in 1998; the ruling was affirmed by the CA on August 6, 2003.
[29] On September 25, 2020, actress Julia Barretto filed a complaint against Sonza before the National Bureau of Investigation's (NBI) Cybercrime Division in connection with his social media post claiming that she was pregnant.
[25][30] Sonza was arrested and detained by the Bureau of Immigration at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on July 18, 2023, while en route to his departure for Hong Kong.
[31][32][24] This is in connection with a warrant of arrest for eleven counts of estafa issued by Quezon City RTC Branch 100, as well as allegations of syndicated and large scale illegal recruitment (in relation to Republic Act No.