4 Philippine Showbiz Today
February 8 - 21, 2018
Cover Story
JFK’s daughter Caroline in PHL for young poets’ program
Former ambassador Caroline
Kennedy, the only surviving child of
the late US president John F. Kenne-
dy, arrived in the Philippines yester-
day for a two-day visit as part of her
ongoing project aimed at connecting
young poets across the globe.
The 60-year-old former US en-
voy to Japan said this is her first trip
to the Philippines.
Accompanied by US ambas-
sador Sung Kim, Kennedy paid her
respects to Filipino and American
soldiers who were killed during the
World War II in the Philippines at the
Manila American Cemetery and Me-
morial in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.
“This is my first trip to the Phil-
ippines and I very much wanted to
visit this country, which has quite an
important role in American history,”
Kennedy told select Filipino journal-
ists.
“[I] have so many wonderful
memories of all the Filipino people
who served my father in the White
House and I know that there were
some crewmembers who were me-
morialized here so I wanted to come
and pay respects,” she added.
Kennedy, who was welcomed
by Manila American Cemetery su-
perintendent Larry Adkison, walked
through the memorial walls inscribed
with names of fallen American and
Filipinos soldiers.
The tour lasted for almost 40
minutes.
Kennedy also said she wanted
to come to the Philippines because
of her “great admiration” for Kim,
who started his tour of duty in Manila
in 2016.
Former US Ambassador to Japan Caroline
Kennedy (second from left) arrives in Manila
on February 6, 2018, and immediately pays
her respects to the fallen American soldiers
in World War 2 at the US Cemetery in Taguig
City. She is welcomed by US Ambassador to
the Philippines Sung Kim (third from left).
Photo from @USAmbManila
“Well, I have great admiration
to the American ambassador serving
here now,” she said, referring to Kim
who was standing behind her.
“I’m very excited to be here and
look forward to a great couple of
days,” she added.
Kennedy is scheduled to visit
today a school in Manila, which will
be part of her poetry exchange pro-
gram.
She started the program in Ja-
pan during her term as ambassador
from 2013 to 2017. The program
is also being implemented in South
Korea.
Kennedy was the first woman to
serve as US ambassador to Japan.
A graduate of Harvard University
and Columbia Law School, Kennedy
is also the author of seven bestselling
books on civil rights, American his-
tory, politics and poetry.
Kennedy also worked at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, where
she met her husband Edwin Schloss-
berg, an interactive media designer.
She also serves as president of
the John F. Kennedy Library Founda-
tion, a nonprofit organization dedi-
cated to providing financial support,
staffing and creative resources to the
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
and Museum.
Meanwhile, the US embassy in
Manila also confirmed yesterday the
meeting between Kennedy and the
Aquino sisters.
In a press conference last week,
television host Kris Aquino an-
nounced their meeting with the for-
mer US diplomat.
Aquino and Kennedy share sim-
ilar backgrounds since both are chil-
dren of their country’s president and
both their fathers were assassinated
when they were young.
Kris said her father Ninoy Aqui-
no admired the late John Kennedy.
Kennedy also presented Aqui-
no’s late mother former President
Corazon Aquino a bust of her father
during their meeting on Sept. 20,
1986 at the John F. Kennedy Memo-
rial Library.●
- PS
Olivia Lamasan takes on executive post at ABS-CBN
ABS-CBN Corporation has
named multi-awarded filmmaker
Olivia Lamasan as new managing
director of ABS-CBN Films Produc-
tions Inc. or Star Cinema, following
the retirement of Malou Santos as
chief operating officer (COO) of Star
Creatives.
Lamasan previously headed Star
Cinema’s creative department before
the appointment. Respectfully and
lovingly nicknamed “Inang” by some
of the country’s most revered ac-
tors, she is behind such remarkable
Filipino films as “Madrasta,” “Milan,”
“Got to Believe,” “In The Name of
Love,” “The Mistress,” “Starting Over
Again,” and most recently, “Barcelo-
na: A Love Untold.”
Santos, meanwhile, will now
serve as an executive adviser to Star
Cinema, as well as focus on foreign
film acquisitions and regional co-
productions. She will also oversee
Citymall cinema operations under
Cinescreen, Inc.
As the former COO of Star Cre-
atives, Santos led the teams behind
Asia’s longest-running drama an-
thology “Remembering,” and other
world-class television dramas that in-
clude “The Promise,” “Princess and
I,” “Forevermore,” “The Legal Wife,”
“Dolce Amore,” “She Wolf,” “Imor-
tal,” and “La Luna Sangre.”
In a statement sent to The Ma-
nila Times, Head of Corporate Com-
munications Kane Errol Ochoa said,
“With these appointments, ABS-
CBN hopes to continue to provide
Filipinos all over the world with the
best content on different media plat-
forms as the company continues to
transition into an agile digital com-
pany.”●
- TMT