That’s KC – Kristina Cassandra – Concepcion, who may not head an embassy, but serves a nevertheless significant mission: She is the National Ambassador Against Hunger for the Philippines of the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP), and she sat down with STARweek for an exclusive interview in Hong Kong last week on the sidelines of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) held at the Grand Hyatt in Wanchai – the first, and last, held outside of the United States. There KC had the privilege of hobnobbing with former US President Bill Clinton, as well as other current and former heads of state (there were 11 of them there), leaders of business, multilateral and non-government organizations.
The World Food Program had announced a $15-million initiative to improve nutrition for underprivileged children and their families in seven Asian countries, including the Philippines. They committed to “feed more people in Asia with better food and provide for undernourished mothers and children under two.”
This was one of the Commitments to Action cited by President Clinton during the two-day CGI held on Dec. 2-3. KC and WFP’s newest National Ambassador Against Hunger, Korean heartthrob Jang Dong Kun, joined WFP regional director for Asia Tony Bradbury and representatives of their donor-partners – Boeing Corp., Credit Suisse and Dompet Dhuafa of Indonesia – in presenting the commitment to Clinton at the closing session of the CGI.
Another Commitment to Action cited by Clinton was the one made by Knowledge Channel Foundation (KCF) headed by Rina Lopez-Bautista, to be funded by the Lopez Group headed by Oscar Lopez with a P10.5-million ($210,000) grant. The project will enable the KCF to provide 20,000 public school teachers with hands-on training in Internet literacy, which will in turn benefit thousands of students in public schools across the country.
Lopez also made a commitment to donate P405 million ($8.1 million) for a national reforestation program that will cover 1,000 hectares a year for ten years, to start in 2009.
KC is one of the most recognizable faces in Philippine celebrity-dom today, with product endorsements, television appearances and a movie all in the one year she has been back in the Philippines after completing a course in international corporate communications (with a minor in theater) at the American University in Paris. Her debut movie, appropriately titled “For the First Time,” with Richard Gutierrez, one of the hottest stars around, was enough of a hit to have another movie due next year.
Even without trying, KC would’ve been a star; she is the daughter of the acknowledged mega-star Sharon Cuneta and her then on- and off-screen partner Gabby Concepcion. The couple has since parted ways, and KC has been legally adopted by her stepfather, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, who used to be majority floor leader at the Senate.
KC uses the phrase “give back” often, and looks up to two international celebrities who have become as well known for their philanthropic work as for their movies, who also attended the CGI. Action superstar Jet Li, who now spends more of his time on his One Foundation than making movies, said, “Our generation’s duty is to give back.” Michele Yeoh, star of the James Bond movie “Tomorrow Never Dies” as well as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” said almost cryptically, “I can because I can.”
Fully aware of her privileged place and position in life, KC says: “I felt I needed to give back. As Jet Li said, our generation is very privileged. And as Michele said, I’m doing the WFP role because I can. I feel I need to remind people that there is a food crisis.”
Adds Jang, “Knowing is one thing; doing something is another. We need to encourage people to take action.”
Action is what KC has been doing for the WFP. Since taking on her role of ambassador last February, KC has visited Mindanao, where the WFP has numerous programs providing food to those displaced by the armed conflicts, especially emergency food aid to those in evacuation camps. KC has been to project areas of the WFP in North Cotabato, Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte.
She recalls with obvious satisfaction and joy the reception she got when she visited Pikit, North Cotabato last March. “I had done an episode of Maalaala Mo Kaya (a weekly show that airs on ABS-CBN every Saturday) and my character was named Darlene. There was a scene in the hospital where my mother was dying and my brother and I were crying, ‘Don’t give up on us!’
“When I got to Pikit, all the kids and mothers were screaming, ‘Darlene! Darlene! Don’t give up on us!’ It was wonderful because they feel like they know you – we’re friends.”
Aside from her natural congeniality, KC’s course in international corporate communications comes in handy in this new role she has taken on. She realizes the value of “giving the message… and effectively making people listen.” The two go “hand in hand,” she explains, and acknowledges that her celebrity status helps a lot. “You’re a brand,” she says, and people all over the country certainly know the KC brand.
That is why KC fits the bill as a WFP National Ambassador Against Hunger. Regional director for Asia Tony Bradbury explains that the ambassador’s role is two-fold: To visit WFP operations, often in remote areas and under difficult circumstances, and then to “tell the stories” via television, print media, events such as the CGI, or even just spreading the word among their friends and family.
“They visit people who get by on less than a dollar a day, and help people realize that even the smallest amount can go a long way,” Bradbury says. “They raise concern and awareness, and also raise funds.”
Bradbury noted that high food prices and the increasing number of people around the world who need food aid have put a strain on the resources of the WFP, the world’s largest humanitarian agency. This year, the WFP plans to feed 90 million people in 80 countries.
Bradbury also noted that WFP is now offering more emergency food aid in urban areas, where previously most of their aid went to remote rural areas. He says this trend is expected to continue as the global economic crisis affects more people who lose jobs in city centers worldwide.
On the sidelines of the CGI, Bradbury met with President Arroyo and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, and they reiterated their commitment to solving the humanitarian crisis brought about by the continued armed conflict in Mindanao.
National Ambassadors Against Hunger go through a strict screening process. “Celebrity is just one small part of what we’re looking for in ambassadors,” Bradbury explains. “First we look for their commitment to the WFP cause, then we look for integrity. The fact that they are well-known helps, of course.” Aside from KC and Jang, actress Maya Luna serves as National Ambassador Against Hunger for Indonesia. She did not attend the CGI because she was shooting a movie in Indonesia.
KC was nominated by WFP-Philippines, and went through about five months of screening and then waiting, without telling anyone that she was being considered.
“I couldn’t tell anyone,” she says, “not even my family.” When she was finally informed that she had been chosen, she recalls asking herself, “What did I do to deserve this?”
This isn’t KC’s first and only “give back” activity though; she has been raising funds for and championing the cause of survivors of sexual abuse for over five years. She says that Sen. Pangilinan told her that “it had to happen sooner or later – public service is in your blood,” pointing out that her maternal grandfather served many, many years as mayor of Pasay City.
Mother Sharon though was not totally thrilled with her going on the WFP missions to Mindanao. “She was worried because of the danger,” KC shares, “but I saw it as a duty, as an honor, and not as a threat.”
She was especially excited about the Food for Education program. “We go to schools and feed the kids on site,” she relates. “They like going to school because they get food, and their families get food.”
Just as public service is in her blood, is politics also in her blood?
“Public service and politics are two separate things,” she says. “I like what I’m doing and I don’t really see myself going into politics.”
And her showbiz career? She’s not about to give it up, her fans will be happy to know. “It (her showbiz commitments) supports my work,” she adds.