Ortigas began her career as a news anchor, reporter and producer at ABS-CBN and GMA Network, in the Philippines.

[1] Ortigas was a field producer, editor, and reporter with CNN International news based in London from 2000 to 2005 and spent considerable time in Baghdad and the Middle East on assignment.

[2][3] Ortigas was the Senior Asia correspondent for Al Jazeera English, travelling the region extensively for 11 years.

[4][5] She covered all aspects including the growth of China, tensions on the Korean peninsula, cross-border and internal conflicts among ASEAN states, and the many natural disasters around Asia.

She also reported extensively on both the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013, and the Great East Japan quake in 2011.