IT has been six years since Karen Ibasco was crowned Miss Earth 2017, but she is not letting up on advocating for the environment.

Ibasco plans to continue pursuing projects to protect the country’s natural resources as she signed up as one of the newest artists of Ant Savvy Artist Management (ASAM) on Wednesday, May 17.

The 32-year-old beauty queen is among the eight new artists who were introduced in ASAM’s contract signing event in Taguig City. 

Green champion 

Ibasco won the 17th edition of the Miss Philippines Earth pageant in July 2017, earning the ticket to represent the country to the Miss Earth 2017 in November of the same year. She emerged on top, bringing home the Philippines’ fourth Miss Earth crown.

In an interview with republicasia, the physicist said that joining the pageant that promotes environmental awareness became a great platform for her to achieve her goal of making a difference in the world.

“When I joined, I studied more on climate change because I’m not an environmental scientist. So what I did is [I] fused my field in physics and environmental sciences, and I started advocating [for] the conservation of energy and embraced renewable energy,” she said.

Even after she clinched the Miss Earth crown, she did not let up on promoting her causes. 

She is now an ambassador of major environmental organizations such as the Climate Change Commission, Conservation of Ocean’s Resources and Aquatic Life, and World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines.

“Now I focus more on a lot of aspects. Not just energy, but water, food, wildlife conservation, plastic pollution, climate adaptation and so on. I’m very active with this area because I really love what I do,” she said.

Ibasco shared that she is currently working with other big companies that support sustainability.

She wants to share with them her knowledge and experiences about environment-friendly measures. 

“It’s something that’s very unique to me, it’s a brand that I embrace, it’s a brand that I want to share with Ant Savvy so I can work with them more,” she said.

‘Ikaw’ singer

Aside from Ibasco, another artist who joined ASAM is singer-songwriter Jonn Walter, a radio station chart-topper for his first solo single Ikaw.

The song is about meeting someone casually and then falling in love with that person. This was a true-to-life experience of the Leyte-native singer.

“About [‘to] sa isang girl na nagparanas sa’kin ng tunay na pagmamahal. Sa kanya ko naranasan ‘yung pag-ibig kumbaga,” Walter said.

His interest in singing traces back to his childhood days, when he would show his drunk uncles how a song in a videoke machine should be sung in tune.

“‘Nung bata raw ako, gusto kong laging kunin ‘yung mic kasi feeling ko wala sila sa tono; gusto ko i-tono,” he recalled.

He continued, “Ginagawa nila, binibigyan nila ako ng fake na mic na walang tunog, so feeling ko tumutunog, so umiiyak daw ako non kasi wala pa rin sa tono.”

What pushed Walter to pursue a career in singing is his family, who believes that he has a knack of it. 

Walter first became part of the three-piece alternative pop rock band Down By 18 before he embarked on his solo career in 2022 with the release of Ikaw. He also has a warm up single called Ulan.

The singer-songwriter shared he’s now working on an album which he hopes to be finished by next month. 

“Gusto ko siyang matapos na sana para ma-share ko sa mga listeners ko. ‘Yun ‘yung gusto kong ma-achieve; more albums to come, more projects,” he said.

Listeners can expect a “roller coaster of emotions” from the upcoming album, he said. 

“Kumbaga magiging playlist ng buhay nila. ‘Yun ‘yung gusto kong mangyari,” he added.

More new artists

Other artists who signed up with ASAM on Wednesday were singer Ava Santos, multifaceted celebrity chef James “Chef Raj” Amado, TV host Almira Teng, theater actress Carla Lim, digital creator James Santi, and actress Mayton Eugenio.

Before the signing of the contracts, Sarah Ruth Matias, chief executive officer of Ant Savvy Creatives and Entertainment, Inc., took the opportunity to thank their new artists for putting their trust in the management.

“We can’t promise that this is gonna be a smooth journey, of course it’s expected na may mga times na mahihirapan tayo,” Matias said in her speech.

She went on to say, “But then again, at the end this is gonna be way, way sweeter because we went through all these hardships together and of course, supporting each other.”

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