Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala

Magsanoc-Alikpala is the daughter of Philippine Daily Inquirer editor Letty Jimenez Magsanoc and Dr. Carlitos Magsanoc.[3] Both of her brothers are doctors.

Magsanoc-Alikpala was a managing director of Asianeye Productions as well as a producer for ARD German television and a contributing producer to CNN.[1][2][4][5] Asianeye made an extensive documentary on martial law called Batas Militar which got the "highest rating for any television documentary in the Philippines," according to one newspaper account.[5] She was a reporter for Voice of America and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.[1] Asianeye developed shows called "docu-musicals" for ABS-CBN's A Christmas Prayer, and the firm won awards on several occasions.[1] In 2007, the Asianeye staff watched 200 movies made by the Philippine action movie star Fernando Poe, Jr. as part of an effort to make a TV special; Magsanoc-Alikpala divided the work to select footage for their project.[6] She has produced and reported for documentaries through the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, The Probe Team and for SkyCable News.[1] As a broadcast journalist, she reported on significant stories, such as the capture of four Abu Sayyaf members in 2002; her reports were broadcast on the Voice of America.[7][8]

In 1997, Magsanoc-Alikpala was diagnosed with breast cancer.[3] It was a transformative event in her life. She survived, but the experience changed her. In 1999, she started the I Can Serve Foundation[9] along with her friend Crisann Celdran who wrote "we knew very little and had different experiences but shared one dream: that cancer survivors should not go through this path alone."[10] She encourages women to make breast self-examination a "lifetime habit."[11] According to one source, the Philippines has the highest incidence of breast cancer in Southeast Asia.[11]

The I Can Serve Foundation, sometimes identified with all words together as ICanServe, has been described as a "dynamic patient support networking group" and has been lauded for its efforts to alleviate the rising incidence of breast cancer among Filipino women.[12] One woman who survived breast cancer joined ICanServe afterwards, and she described Magsanoc-Alikpala as "pretty", "perky", and "talented" and wrote Magsanoc-Alikpala's efforts to organize fellow survivors was a "miracle".[13] In 2004, Magsanoc-Alikpala was awarded the Bessie B. Legarda Memorial Foundation Award.[14] The foundation had its tenth anniversary in 2007.[9] She published advice about how to organize cancer support groups.[15]

The organization, along with the Philippine Cancer Society, organizes a variety of initiatives to promote awareness, including "fun runs" since 2002 in such cities as Fort Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.[9] Magsanoc-Alikpala works with government officials including Philippine Senate President Manny Villar to promote awareness.[16] It promotes awareness with local officials such as in Marikina.[11] Its "Pink Kitchen" creative promotional effort, credited as the idea of Bettina Osmena, features top chefs serving fine cuisine; the events are well publicized in the media.[17] The Pink Kitchen event has been described as "one of Manila’s most anticipated food festivals; the 2008 event showcased over 50 chefs serving French, Italian, Spanish, Middle Eastern, Indian, Burmese, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian and Singaporean specialties.[18] One chef named a new dish after her; chef Sincioco’s Tickled Pink Salad a la Kara featured beetroots and a dark pink tinge in a "fuchsia concoction."[19] In 2006, the organization planned the Philippine's first nationwide early breast cancer detection effort.[17]

In 2007, Magsanoc-Alikpala was chosen as one of three celebrity critics on a popular Philippine television show Dokyu which has an "eclectic panel" of experts examining film projects.[20] The TV program is a competition-based reality program which gives a platform to independent documentary filmmakers.[1] She offers advice and encouragement to aspiring talents.[5][21]

In 2008, Magsanoc-Alikpala won a Balance Award from the magazine Working Mom which recognized balance between career and family; a reporter described Magsanoc-Alikpala's efforts as "indefatigable ... as chairperson of the breast cancer awareness support group."[22]

• Batas Militar (1997)
• Limampung Taong Ligawan: The Pinoy TV Story (2003)
• The Assassination of Ninoy Aquino (2010)
• Marcos: The Downfall of the Dictator (2011)

• Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala at IMDb