WHEN SHARON LOVES
by Noel D. Ferrer, The Manila Standard, September 4, 1999

Megastar Sharon Cuneta is very much in love.

She is engulfed by love for her husband Kiko (who celebrated his birthday recently) and her daughter KC (who is growing up to be a pretty and intelligent lady).

She is also very much in love with her work. Her first album in five years (which she produced under her own Mega Music label) turned gold in less than two weeks and is on its way to hitting the double platinum mark. Her musical talk show has become a top rater, dislodging the time slot's formidable competitor in the ratings game, and her provincial concerts have all been well received and much talked about in terms of performance and the crowds who attended.

Very soon, Sharon will buckle down to work on her Star Cinema movie which will reunite her with former partner Richard Gomez and the director who gave her the grand slam best actress honors, Olive Lamasan.

But for The Good Life, Sharon shows us her personal brand of loving, her deeply felt and much valued love that manages to survive, though she is in a business where the word ìloveî is used so casually.

This is the secret to Sharon's being the most loved personality in the land.

How does one knew if Sharon is in love?

My friends say that when I am in love, it shows in my eyes. There is a permanent sparkle to them.

What are the positive effects of love on Sharon?

When I'm in love, I notice that I am much happier and friendlier. I become more enthusiastic in my work and in everything I do. And I'm always inspired.

What are the not-so-positive love consequences that Sharon has undergone?

Geez, I guess when the inevitable problems come up. I've taken great pains not to let an unhappy (or non-existent) relationship affect my work and the other areas of my life negatively, but of course it shows in my disposition, my forced smiles. But hey, love is not the be-all and end-all!

How do you manifest your love for your friends?

I don't have many friends, but I am blessed with the few that I have. I am fiercely loyal and protective, and I expect no less than that in return. I like writing notes and giving gifts, no matter if they're small. I am not one to betray a friend in any way, and so I expected the same in return as well.

Who are your real showbiz friends and what do you enjoy doing together?

Cherie Gil and Zsa Zsa Padilla. I love just spending time with them and talking. We don't get to see each other frequently, but they are my so-called "tried and tested" ones. I also like Bing Loyzaga (we became close in the movies we did together) and Dick Paulate. Agot Isidro is part of my girl-group. Randy and Rowell Santiago are also close to me.

What are you ways of bonding with your friends?

We enjoy just eating and talking. Some of them I've traveled abroad with. I like being totally myself, completely normal with them. I like that they don't treat me like a celebrity that would be such a turn-off for me.

I like laughing with my friends, and knowing that whatever is talked about stays just within the group. I am wary of opening up to people who are ìfriends.î It takes a while for me to trust them, I guess that's because I am a celebrity and I don't like being judged or talked about behind my back.

Trust is so important to me, and once it is violated, it's very hard for me to forgive, no matter how small the offense is.

How many times has Sharon been romantically in love?

I'd say, seriously in love, maybe three or four times, in all my 33 years!

What did you learn from your love experiences with:

1. Gabby Concepcion
   It takes time to get to know a person, and you have to know the person will to be able to know not only his good side, but the bad too.

   If you give yourself enough time to get to know who he really is inside, then you can decide if you can live with his imperfections. Too much, too soon always spells disaster. Learn to love yourself and not build your life around one person.

2. Rowell Santiago

   This guy I should've married. Haha! But I'm glad we didn't marry otherwise I wouldn't have met Francis! With Rowell, I've learned that some things that may seem important to you when you're young aren't the things that will matter when you're a bit older and wiser. Rowell is one of my best friends now, and the girl he will marry is gonna be real blessed.

3. Richard Gomez

   In my relationship with Richard I learned that you shouldn't listen to all the advice your well-meaning family members and friends tell you. There are always too many people giving you advice. If you listened to all of them, you'd go insane! Ultimately, you should decide for yourself. That way, you don't end up regretting some decisions.

   Also, a very public relationship is stressful and not all that good. And at that time, it didn't seem like Richard and I gave importance to the same things.

4. Francis Pangilinan

   I love him and I am glad I married him. The things that mattered to me once I got older (hopefully, wiser) are the same things I saw in him when I met him and when we started going out. So when I saw that we had basically the same set of family values, the same amount of decency in our individual selves, and lots in common, plus that we both had a healthy sense of humor, that was it. I had to marry him.

   We've encountered a few snags in our marriage, but because we are both old-fashioned, we make an effort to not just make the marriage work, but be happy! Give and take, give and take. I guess the most important lesson here is that no matter how very much you love someone, if your values aren't the same, it'll never work. Kiko and I grew up differently, obviously, but there are enough similarities in our backgrounds so it works. And we both love just staying at home, or being with friends. We're not party people.

STILL MUM ON HER DIET What is the Sharon "diet"? How did she become so sexy and lose 40 pounds? "Lessen your food intake and keep away from very fattening dishes!" was all Sharon would say in response to this question. Sharon doesn't want to talk about her diet anymore lest people take her lead, and be disappointed if it didn't work for them. And then, they'd put the blame on her! She was a little upset because of a report that she had gone on a "Fit For Life" dietó"Where did that come from? I never did say that because I never did go on it." Obviously tired of having her weight always coming up as a topic of conversation, she wondered aloud why whenever she loses weight people always ask doctors for their opinion, and why whenever she gets "too thin" people speculate that she's been on some illegal drug. "Remember, I sued someone because of that 'shabu' gossip," Sharon cautions, adding, "The point is, the ideal way to lose weight is over a long period of time, eating the right food." But unfortunately she has to make a living in show business and owes the public a presentable image. Neither has she the luxury of time. The only option we can go for is to lose weight as healthily but as quickly as we can, Sharon says. But Bangkok Pills are definitely out!

How do you bond with your husband now?

Kiko is literally my playmate. I turn back into a baby when we're together. I use a different language mostly baby talk, when I'm with him! We write each other sweet notes, and laugh together a lot. We jokingly fight over each other's books. We both love to read and we sometimes talk about what we've just read. We are both funny (though he's corn), but I like that we can have a serious conversation every now and then.

How about Sharon's loving ways as a mother? How do you bond with KC now?

Since she's already 14, she's more like a ka-barkada to me now, in the sense that I can share stories about my life and whatever else with her. She's smart and a bit mature for her age. But she knows that there's a line in our ìfriendshipî that she cannot cross, that I still have to be an authority figure in her life, and that I have to do the disciplining whenever I feel it's called for.

She sometimes calls me ìSis Mî for sister-mom. We're funny together, and we love to travel together. We have a lot of fun when we are able to spend time together. When we need a bit more ìbonding,î the best way, I've learned, is to travel just the two of us.

How about Sharon's love for her brother Chet?

I am very close to my brother. I say that not just in the usual sense, but, let's put it this way: even up until a few days before I married Kiko, Chet and I were both living in Dasma again (our parent's house), and every morning, he'd peek into my room and kiss me good morning when I was awake, and then at night, he'd peek again and kiss me good night. He writes me up to now if I haven't seen him in a while at our Sunday reunions (mainly because he's always flying off somewhere- he's a pilot for Cebu Pacific). He tells me that he wants me to remember that he loves me. This is how we are. I have only one sibling, five years older than me, and I am his baby. We'll be like this even when we're old and gray. He's very protective of me, and he really does love me very much.

He's proud of me, and doesn't bug me for money (Haha!) He always makes me lamutak (kurot , halik, yakap!) when he sees me for the first time in a while! And he tells me he doesn't want me to gain weight anymore so he won't be ashamed of me anymore (walanghiya!) Haha!

I've always loved traveling with Kuya. We used to get thrown on the extra bed together in our parents hotel room (it's cheaper that way) and I used to get jealous of his girlfriends when they weren't nice to me, but I'd spoil those who were!

When we had to take him to boarding school in England (I was around 12 or 13), I remember crying like someone had died on my way back to London on the train. I didn't feel complete until he came back home. I missed him so much.

What about bonding with mom and dad?

My favorite memories are (still) of traveling abroad. I guess that's because we're left to ourselves, and depend on each other and are always together, I used to sleep siesta with my Daddy, and my mom and I, well, we've had out moments and would laugh and cry over life together. I was always with Daddy and Mommy, so that when Kiko and I were getting married, I remember that one of my major lonely thoughts was that I wasn't going to be with Daddy and Mommy anymore everyday!

How about your love for yourself? How does Sharon indulge and pamper herself?

Oh, man, food!!!! And books (my biggest expense in nearly two years) and magazines. I collect stationary and pens. All paper! Watches, painting. I like jewelry and other nice things, but I've learned not to go overboard when shopping anymore, unlike in the Eighties when my earnings would be depleted because of the Chanels! Now I regret having spent so much on clothes when I couldn't wear them more than a certain number of times in public. It was such a waste. I should have invested my money in something else instead.

Because God loves Sharon very much, if He asks you for your wishes, what five things will you ask of Him, and why?

1. That He gives my father extra several years so I can give him all that I can afford now to. And that my father be happy, comfortable, painless.

2. A healthy, good natured, baby (hopefully a boy, but boy or girl doesn't matter as long as he/she is healthy). And then more kids pa.

3. A good life for KC ñ that she doesn't make so many wrong decisions in her life, but makes a few so that she'll learn.

4. A happy love-filled marriage for life.

5. That I'd be able to complete what He put me here for, that I make Him proud of me. And that people don't forget that I at least, a few times, brought them a certain amount of inspiration and happiness. I don't want to die one day and not have people care.