KC Concepcion: A Charmed Life

by Blaise C. Gacoscos, YES! Magazine, May 2002

KC: A Charmed Life

by Blaise C. Gacoscos, YES! Magazine, May 2002

Kristina Cassandra "KC" Concepcion, 16, says: "Life is not about myself. It's not about what I want. It's really about people who are very special to me." From there, she goes on to talk about their warm, traditional family reunions every Christmas, Mom Sharon Cuneta, Dad Kiko Pangilinan, and Papa Gabby Concepcion. Then she reveals her big new love: theater! Hmm, sounds like one really nice girl.

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION
How do you spend Christmas?
Every Christmas we spend it in my grandmother's house in Makati. It's tradition. Of course all the Christmases we've spent were with the family. Even in the States, we spend Christmases with my grandmother, her sisters, their children, my extended family, and we're all very close. We're about 70 something but we know each other so well. Actually, for me, when you say Christmas, it really reminds me of the family coming together just enjoying the moment and the occasion. We pray among ourselves and we sleep over on Christmas Eve. [Sharon, Kiko, KC, and Frankie are all Evangelical Christians so they don't hear Mass in Catholic churches.] It's the time to repair broken relationships, have fun, catch up with the family, and then eat and eat and eat. It's kinda a really good way to prepare yourself for the next year.

What was your best Christmas present ever?
Oh wow, a lot of very beautiful gifts. A gift can be anything actually. A gift can be very meaningful because it's something you've always wanted or something you've really needed. Maybe it's a trip to another country where you've always wanted to go or maybe it's just the thought that, you know, maybe you haven't been talking to someone for so long and on Christmas day he will get in touch with you, you know. It's like, "Wow!" I've had that in the past years a lot.

What's the most memorable gift your mom gave you?
Her cards mean the best. There was one card, she just told me all the things that he really appreciated, the things that I would do that meant a lot to her, that kinda changed her. Every year she gives me a card. That's what I always look forward to every Christmas. It was the best present.

Any special someone to celebrate the,season with?
I have a lot of guy friends who are all cry special to me. But a special someone... everyone's a special someone.

MOMMY SHARON
There's so much love and sunshine between you and your mom, don't you agree?
Of course there's so much love because we're mother and daughter. I think every parent loves her child. And she's a very loving person. It's not always sunlight I though. These days we're adjusting to each other, you know. I'm growing up. When you grow up you just have a lot of hang-ups. But we pretty much get along except that I guess if you say that it's always sunlight, that's not so. I think that with every relationship there's always gonna be times of trouble, and it's normal. If people probably see my morn and I fighting they'd make a big deal out of it because they've never seen its like that. It's not all sunlight.

What qualities of your mom do you have?
She relates well with people. A lot of my friends come to me for advice. Older cousins, friends... I like talking to people and I like being open myself. Like, if I really know you and I really trust you, I mean, you'll know my life. When I talk about deep and serious things or when I'm not being superficial, I don't try to put a mask, I just let my guard down. I think that's what I got from my mom.

Does your mom scold you often?
There's always something, not everyday naman, that you have to learn no matter how little or how big. And of course she has to be the bad guy. My parents have to be the bad guy, you know, they always say that because if they don't tell me what's wrong who else will?

DAD SENATOR KIKO
Of course, my mom taught me the values I had learned, she's always there to discipline me. But my dad showed me a part of life that I've never seen, like, just the way he lives his life. He would spend a lot of time with me. Really just talk to me about things happening in the world. He's experienced a lot of things and he knows how to discipline a child. His way of doing it is very different from my morn's. For how many years, you know, he wasn't in my life. And when he did come to my life I just realized the change that, "Wow, he was very concerned about what's going on." He gives meanings to things. He's basically the reason na I'm a very, very good girl. He brought the Christian lifestyle into the family and he showed me exactly what it meant to be Christian. He is a strict father and I think he's strict because I can be stubborn. I mean I'm 16!

PAPA GABBY
What did you get from your dad?
I call him "Papa." I don't know him well except his love for the beach. I love the beach. I was exposed to it at a young age like he was. It's like, you just show me the beach and I just kinda go crazy. Also, my being sporty and my masculine touch. You'll see it in the sports I choose to do -- soccer. water sports, gyrnnastics, horseback riding.

Have you been talking to him?
We started talking just recently by phone. That's something very private to me so that's all I'm gonna say. We have been talking quite a bit... I can't really say much about Papa because I didn't see him in. I guess, five, six years. And really, if you don't see each other for so long and then you stop communicating, it's kinda rocky. I mean. I love him very much. He's my father. Maybe there are more things I can say about my step dad than my dad because I don't know him well enough. He doesn't know me well enough. He's just a public figure. I guess, the reason why more people are interested to know and think that I have a lot to say is because it's always been a public thing that he's my father. They expect me to know him well.

PASSION
What did you learn from Little Mermaid?
These days I realized that musical theater is something that I really love to do. You get to do all three: sing, dance, act. And it's live! It's not like in showbiz where you get on magazines or with the movies. This one you really have to get in the theater, watch me on stage, and then if something happens on stage you have to know how to go about it. It was like that when I went on stage in the Little Mermaid. It was just an amazing feeling. I wanna do more of I this. I don't know. I don't wanna say I wanna be a serious thespian. But I'm taking it a step at a time.
I am hoping to do another production next year because they're gonna have another major play and I will audition and see if I get in, hopefully. Actually, I was just talking to one of my friends who's also in theater and I was saying how I want to do another one right now! But I can't, I have school! I have to focus on school because if I don't my grades are just really gonna fall. I can see it already because of the workload. If I neglect, like, even just a tiny bit of this, i it's just really gonna drop because theater demands so much from me.

Mega Mom, Model Mom

by Bayani S. San Diego Jr., September 8, 2001

Another Victory for Sharon

by Ricky Lo, People Asia, June 2001

Natural Mom

When Mommy Sharon let KC join friends in Boracay, she had her chaperoned by the yaya, the bodyguard and Lola Elaine...

SHARON IS THINKING of giving up her huge house with its many compartmentalized spaces to move to "a smaller house with a big, big garden." Photo shows her main living room.

SHARON'S FAMOUS STAIRCASE with the framed Gregorian Chants. A Juan Luna original sits on an easel below the stairs.

by Blaise Gacoscos & Ana Pingol, YES!, May 2001

What a Truly Beautiful Baby!

Star Studio, May 2001

Women in Power, Women of Substance

Laurice Guillen and Sharon with their respective daughters, Anna Feleo & KC

A really light moment with KC, Sharon's first-born

by Bayani S. San Diego Jr., Women’s Journal, May 26, 2001

Sharon in Bloom

by Ricky Lo, People Asia, May 2000

At Home with Sharon Cuneta 2

Here comes the sun: This antique sunburst, acquired by Sharon during a trip to Paris, is the first thing you see as you enter the house.

The small den off the living room. The staircase is by Manila Pearl, and the balcony holds Sharon's various awards and trophies.

Admit one: Sharon's favorite seat in the house.

At Home with Sharon Cuneta

Guess who's coming to dinner: Silver and wood reign in the dining room. The table is an antique which Sharon bought in Paris.

Blast from the past: The painting by Karen Flores was picked by Sharon because of the katipunera theme. Her grandmother was in the Katipunan movement.

The staircase leads to the private rooms.

The inner living room where the Pangilinans entertain friends and family. Once again, a warm yellow dominates the color scheme.

A megastar lives here: The first living room sports a yellow motif. The tall doors open to a courtyard, very European in feel.

by Philip Cu-Unjieng, The Philippine Star, April 15, 2000

KC's 15, did she have a say on what her room would look like?
Ramon Antonio: Oh yes. The colors of blue, lilac, the canopy bed, the areas where she can stencil -- in all of this she was very specific, and Sharon felt that even if some elements might not go with the rest of the house, KC's ideas should be respected, it was her room after all.

A Megastar's Sparklers

by Cathy Babao-Guballa, Metro Magazine, January/February 2000

The Tiffany & Co. gold locket bought back in 1989 that has daughter KC's picture inside

Photograph: Pancho Escaler for ABS-CBN Photo Gallery

Sharon Talks About KC

by Crispina Martinez Belen, The Manila Bulletin, October 19, 1999
Now, that KC, her daughter with former husband Gabby Concepcion, is 14 (she’s turning 15 in April), how is Sharon Cuneta dealing with her growing up? “It’s not really difficult. First, I always encourage her to be open with me so I could guide and advise her. Actually we are like friends so this makes the situation easier,” Sharon said.
It also makes Sharon happy that her daughter adores her husband, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, and she really looks up to him as a real father. (KC calls him “Daddy,” while she calls her biological father “Papa.”)
KC and Francis are very close and KC goes to him especially when she needs help in her Math assignments. “Kapag Math ang problema, I told her silang dalawa na lang ang mag-usap,” Sharon laughed. Kiko is always there for KC for whatever she needs from him. He has also told her that even if he and Sharon will have their own children, KC will always be his “panganay.” This, of course, has made KC very secure in his and Sharon’s love. (By the way, Francis and Sharon are still trying very hard to have a child. “I’ll keep on kneeling and praying and begging for this blessing,” Sharon said.)
KC is in 9th grade and isn’t only a pretty young lady but very smart as well. Sharon allows her leeway in everything she does, but there are rules she has to follow, the doting megastar mother said. “Like for instance, she can only browse the net during certain hours, she can only make and accept calls during a certain time, etc. And she cannot cheat because we have a very good communications system in our house. I have a monitor in my room and I can see everything from here,” she laughed.
Sharon never prevented her daughter from getting in touch with her father, especially when they were living in Boston. In fact, she encouraged KC to maintain a communication line with Gabby. After all, he is her father. “I never said anything bad about her father to KC. How, for instance, could I tell her that half of her is bad? How will this affect her?”
If only in this regard, Sharon is indeed a very good mother.
At her age, KC has her own crushes already, and “sometimes they’re my crushes too!” Sharon giggled. But although KC has the makings of a movie or singing star, “she doesn’t want to,” Sharon stressed.

Sunny Days for Sharon

It is an unusual afternoon at the usually serene Pangilinan residence somewhere in the suburbs. The dining room is bustling with activity and the table overflows with food. Including three cakes, brewed coffee and chamomile tea.
And there is one less jokester today. Megastar- businesswomen Sharon Cuneta's husband, lawyer Francis "Kiko" Panginan is upstairs nursing a bum tummy, with hot congee brought by his solicitous mother-in-law.
The tea party is charged up, nonetheless. What with three excited women gabbing away - Elaine Cuneta, Sharon, and her daughter KC.
"This is what we do when Mommy comes by," Sharon says. We just talk and laugh, and laugh and talk. Elaine sits at the head of t he 14-seat formal dining table (fashioned of an antique slab of wood from France), the better to look out to the pool, garden, and guesthouse, just outside the sliding glass doors.
"This spot relaxes me," Elaine explains. "It's like being really far from Manila." With her gaze now she follows KC, who has excused herself. "She's so grown up," she sighs.
"I was just telling Mom," Sharon interrupts, "how great I feel having a teen-aged daughter, I can now relate to her more as a friend." Once a foreign stewardess asked if they were sisters. Sharon was thrilled: now they call each other "Sis."
And now she understands Elaine better, years after the peak in what she calls, a "love-hate" relationship. "We are both very headstrong," Sharon says, "and sometimes given to emotion. When I was a child it was fine, but in my teens I became secretive."
Having sorted out "things," she chooses to remember only the fun parts now, like weekends in Tali Beach, and bicyicle rides in Burnham Park. "Dad - the former Pasay City Mayor Pablo Cuneta - was strict but, like Elaine, made sure the children had rich experiences to remember."
Once when she was in the fourth grade, her father pulled her out of school in the middle of the year to go on a 15-day tour of Europe. "She will learn more from this trip than in the classroom," he had insisted. This was how at age ten, Sharon first saw the Mona Lisa.
Elaine had her full share as well, exposing her daughter to the arts, Sharon was enrolled in all requisite extra-curricular activities for young girls in high society - Hawaiian and Tahitian dance, piano and singing lessons. She had a secret desire, too. "I was telling KC recently," Sharon relates, "that when the Guadalupe Theater was newly opened, my brother Chet took me there to watch Enter the Dragon. I was so fascinated with kung fu. I seriously considered learning it. I still wish I had done that."
The same well-rounded youth is what Sharon works at giving KC. Thus the girl is a fearless swimmer, a bemedalled figure-skater, and a soccer and la crose player in Boston. Mom Sharon reveals she can also play musical instruments by ear and has shown great interest and taken in composing songs.
She is a strict parent, Sharon admits, but Kiko is even more particular about rules. "Yup," KC agrees, "that's my mom. She is sometimes torn between being a parent and being a friend. But Daddy is consistent and really more into details. He shows me the normal side of life, gives me practical advice. Mom shows me all the fun stuff, and wants me to learn by experience."
"Sometimes I still think of her as a baby," Sharon admits.
"Her wish is that KC marries someone who lives nearby," Elaine volunteers.
"I'd be glad to build them a house here," Sharon replies, then turns to her daughter, "Kays, when did I say I would allow you to get married?"
"When I'm thirty-two," KC says flatly.
"Your grandchildren would all be menopause babies," Elaine chortles.
Sharon, the Megastar revels in such blissful episodes of normalcy as this exchange. "No one treats her like a star at home," Elaine says.
KC butts in laughing, "Otherwise we'd all go crazy."
"If I ask her to get me the fish sauce, she will do it," Elaine says to illustrate. The best thing the family can do for Sharon, she beleievs is to keep her grounded.

A Matter of Taste
"Welcome to Megamall," Sharon jests as she shows off her dressing room. This is no ordinary walk-in closet. It's like a his and hers emporium filled with Kiko's dashing suits and her designer gowns. Its easy to see they share the same impeccable taste in clothes.
Another feast for the eyes are the paintings all over the house that sport some of the most renowned names in Philippine art. She, who was an awed visitor to the Louvre as a girl, has evolved into someone staunchly partial to Filipino painters like Malang, Modesto, Vitalis, Amorsolo, Juan Luna. Her collection inspires reverence, like the house itself that is a monument to hard work as much as to wedded bliss.
"I built this house for my daughter and forthcoming children." Sharon announces. "This is where Kiko and I hope to enjoy many happy moments as a family." It is her sanctuary," she says. "All of my things are here, all the colours that I like."
Kiko calls it his refuge. "We're certified homebodies," he says.
The dominant colour is yellow. "I've never been really keen on yellow," Sharon confesses, "but I feel overdosed on peach, pink and other pastel in my younger years. When we lived in the States for a while. I saw all the wonderful shades of yellow. And since I've always loved blue, the living room and master's bedroom are in yellow and blue."
Everyone agrees that the house is perfectly relaxing just as it was intended. The Pangilinans are glad that master architect Ramon Antonio understood them "splendidly."
"It's like a resort," Kiko says, "sometimes we just sit in the garden at night, talking about how our day went." But Sharon's dream is a home in the country, in the middle of a farm, with lots of wind and open spaces.
The present lawn by the pool with a vanishing edge, Sharon says, is going to be an English garden, with roses and other spring flowers. "I've always loved flowers and trees." The location of the house has been carefully picked to indulge this passion just one of the lessons Sharon learned from her dad. "He told me location is very important when buying property."
Pablo Cuneta taught his daughter excellent business sense. "I grew up in such an environment that nurtured natural skills." It also made her want to master everything that daunts her, like the stock market, and accounting. She has proven her mettle in real estate. Now as founder and CEO of Sharon Inc., she has gone into television production. With Numbers Entertainment, she produced her Boston documentary, A Place Called Home, and Fanny Serrano's hairstyle show on cable television, It's a Fanny Day. She has also launched her new record label, Mega Music, with not just one, but two albums.

Miss Organised
Even while being dolled up for work every week at ABS-CBN by trusted stylist Fanny Serrano, Sharon makes productive use of the lull by reading several books on diverse subjects simultaneously.
In a single evening she browsed through The Music Industry Book, Memoirs of a Geisha, Life and Death in Shanghai, Mitigating Circumstances, Falling Leaves, Always Hiding, and Guide to Packing. On the side, she is also a crossword puzzle wiz and is known to have finished one in five minutes.
"I have all these Organise Yourself books," she laughs, "that my sister-in-law Angeli wife of Gary Valenciano calls me now Miss Organised. I can't help it. I don't want to forget anything, like, I am going on a trip, have I photocopied my passport.
A secret here: she cannot travel light, I have to bring my Bible, my books, my pencil case, my laptop they make up my security blanket."
In her new home she has an attic where she houses all the memorabilia she has accumulated through two decades of a stellar career in show business. Nealty arranged are old movie posters, video cassettes of TV shows, glittery costumes, and matching shoes. (But one corner is devoted to her collection of Idiot's Guide Business Books.)
It seems she has brought into this abode all her life's loves, triumphs, and feelings. "No," she muses. "All the feelings belonged in my Twin Towers unit. That was my love of a place. When I first moved in after my separation from actor Gabby Concepcion, I had no furniture. I filled it up, slowly. I went through a lot there. I grew up, became my own woman, there. When I said goodbye to that house, it hurt."
In the same way that Paraiso Street in Dasmarinas Village was the cradle of her happy childhood Sharon feels her home with Kiko is "my new beginning."

Mega-Mom

by Bayani S. San Diego Jr., Parents, May 1999

At the end of the Sharon episode featuring child stars Snooky Serna. Nino Muhlach, Marilyn Reynes and Aiza Seguerra, the Megastar introduced the dramatic "parental" bailed "If I Could" with a simple yet eloquent message addressed to families everywhere. "Nurture the gifts, but nurture the child first."
By the end of the hour long discussion it became readily apparent that not all the wealth in the world can buy back a "lost childhood." The Megastar knows whereof they spoke. The precocious DJ's Pet started singing at age 12, and acting in Dear Heart) at age 15. Showbiz has been her world since her teenage years, music has been flowing in her veins since she was this high.
Is it any wonder that her own daughter exhibits the same artistic inclination? In fact Sharon herself has noticed that KC has a natural call for music. "She loves to sing and listen to music," the proud Mega-Mom reports, beaming. When the family was in Boston, KC aside from being an active athlete, was also part of the school production of the musical The Wiz. "And she sang beautifully!" says Sharon.
That being so, inquiring minds would like to know whether she would allow daughter Kristina Cassandra "KC" Concepcion to follow in her famous footsteps.
"Because I started out really young, "Sharon elaborates, "I know now what I could have lived without - what I should have or have not done. And so I would like KC to live the life of a normal kid first. In attend to her schoolwork without too many distractions. When she's a bit older and she still expresses a desire to go into showbiz like her parents, and I see that she's prepared to handle all the demands of the business without spreading herself too thin, then I'll support her.
Sharon also offers gentle encouragement to other creamy youngsters out there who would like to achieve superstardom. "I guess when you're really young and you're given the opportunity to share your talents with an audience, that's okay. Showbiz is better than having nothing but school to face every single day and getting involved in 'bad' things like drugs."
"It's all a matter of priorities and time management." Sha stresses. "As long as you set your priorities straight God, family and school first before a 'career'. I just don't think that kids should be forced to stay up all night taping or shooting. Work for kids has to be limited. Their health and well-being should come first."
She feels strongly about the issue to child labor in the movie and music industries. "And once you've become too serious about show business at a very tender age, you'll miss out on all the normal experience of growing up. This is so unhealthy and I wouldn't advise this to anyone. Besides, you give up your privacy before even understanding how precious it is. Once you're in the business, you'll never be able to buy your privacy back."
She now volunteers precious advice to starry -eyed showbiz hopefuls. "For those who are serious - and ready - to go into the business, I'd like to tell you that it's not all fun and glamour. It is a lot of hard work, more often than not, so be aware of that. And remember that your audience (or the business) doesn't owe you anything. You owe the fans (and the business) something; you owe them for the countless opportunities. So never do things half-heartedly. Keep your feet on the ground. Being mayabang (arrogant) and having a lousy attitude won't get you anywhere. Keep all the values your parents have taught you, no matter how tempting it gets to ignore them. And lastly, love your work and it will love you back."
In sum. Ma'am Mega, sounding like a concerned Mega-Mom, states simply:
"God wants all of us to find our gifts and to use them wisely. To benefit from and share our gifts with others. Work for Him and He'll guide you and take care of you all the way," thus sayeth the Mega-Mom.