THE MEGA EVENT : THE WOMAN
August 16-17, 2002, Araneta Coliseum

The Megastar • The Singer • The Actress • The Multi-Media Star • The Woman • Articles


"My brother Chet and I got the best of both worlds. With our Dad, we experienced simple joys like eating with our hands. But our mom made sure that we would know how to behave, how to dress, if we were to have dinner in Malacañang Palace."

The Cunetas

Nothing came instantly for her, Sharon affirms. Not even fame and fortune. She had to work just as hard, if not harder, than her contemporaries because she had to prove to everyone (fans and foes alike) that she deserved her popularity, that she didn't become a star just because of her family name, her father's connections.

With Kuya Chet, Mommy Elaine, and Mayor Pablo in Hong Kong, 1968
With Kaycee, Mommy Elaine, and Mayor Pablo, 1993
When she finally joined the music and (later) the movie industries, Mayor Pablo was Sharon's most ardent supporter, but he never interfered in her burgeoning career, contrary to public perception.

Her Dad was a man of few words, that was why every time he spoke Sharon listened intently for the gems of wisdom he imparted. "I felt shortchanged nga because when I was born, my Dad was already 56 years old," Sharon says. "Parang if I were born earlier could have learned so many things from him pa."

She is just as proud of her Mom. "I realized that I've always been vocal about how much I adore my father," Sharon explains. "Now that he is gone, I just want to show my Mom how much I love, respect, and appreciate her."

Suffice it to say: "My Mom and Dad never allowed me to have a hat bigger than my head."


"After twenty-five years in show business, I hope to have been able to become an inspiration to women in the Philippines not only in the way I have handled my professional life, butalso my personal life. I hope I have succeeded in showing women that it is possible to have a successful career and a happy home life, without having to compromise one's principles, or hurting those who matter the most. I hope I have shown that one doesn't have to be perfect in order to be a good person, but I also hope I have shown that a woman should certainly continue to strive to be the best that she can be, both at home and at work."


Kiko

At Home, 1999
Although she is on the verge of more successes (her BMG album, All I Ever Want, is making waves in Hong Kong and all over the Asian region), she is inclined to "go back to basics."

"It's already the 21 st century," Sharon expounds. "The '80s was a decade of excess. Now, everybody's downsizing. Everyone just wants to get in touch with what's really more meaningful." And for Sharon, it's family life.

"My husband and I plan to retire on a farm someday," Sharon beams. "I want to cook, getting vegetables from my own backyard. Flowers from my own garden. Eggs from my own chickens. I also want to raise ducks, maybe a peacock."


Sharon's Wish List 2002

  • Finish school. I'm torn, though. Do I want to take up Business? Do I wanna give in to my love for Literature? Or do I want to give in, finally, to what I feel is my "other (secret?) calling"? Still, that's a toss up between Architecture and Interior Design!
  • I want to have at least two more children. I am praying for twins, or triplets, or kahit ilan sila!
  • I want to live in a province with my little veggie and herb garden, amidst my books and magazines and my music.
    Ulirang Ina Award, 2001
  • I want to keep building houses, though that's really wishful thinking. I could buy, improve and sell or build from scratch and sell! My father made most of his fortune doing that, by the way. That's a little bit of him in me.
  • Let's see . . . .be an extra in a Hollywood movie? With Jet Li? Antonio? Tom? Keanu? Okay, I could be a PA to Julia and love every minute of it. Work at HARPO? Hahaha!
  • Would love to once again do concerts all over the US, and the Philippines maybe Europe and the rest of Asia. Wherever there are Filipinos! Of course, would love it if my CD made it big in the region.


    Speaking of Sharon:
    "A dreamer. Relentless in her pursuit of professional excellence. Relentless in her pursuit of excellence at home. Very human. Very real. My secret keeper. My dream sharer. My best friend."
    - Atty. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on his wife, circa 1998

    "For her, she is a wife and mother first and foremost and an actress and singer second, no ifs or buts. She is extremely loving, generous, and truly passionate about what she holds dear. If I knew married life with Sharon would be like this, I would have married her 25 years ago. Kaso nga lang, I'd only be 14 then, di pa puwede!"
    - Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on his wife, circa 2002


    The Music Never Ends...
    "Can you imagine how singing one song over many, many yeasr performing can make you just go through it without having to think of what it means anymore, as if it's become technical, almost automatic? That never happens to me with 'Sanay's Wala Nang Wakas.' The minute I hear the music to this song starting, I 'see' practically my whole career, and how far this one song has come. It is very special. I have sung so many, but it is this one song that my fans have seemed to 'pick' to be the most memorable and most special. I still feel every word, like I was singing it for the first time."


    Kaycee and Frankie


    The Pangilinans, Sharon, January 6, 2002

    There was a time not so long ago when Sharon had a bit more idealistic view of life and love. She came across this quotable quote when she was a teener and it somehow stuck: "When you have a rose garden and you have weeds growing everywhere, you would want to get rid of those weeds. But leave a few little ones so you could see how truly beautiful your roses are."

    Now, on the eve of her silver year, Sharon the incorrigible dreamer has grown more pragmatic, more grounded.

    "I was telling my husband: If there are people who are not good for us, who will not make us better individuals, we have to say goodbye to them," Sharon elaborates.

    In a way, the gardening metaphor still holds amazingly true.

    "It's like tending your backyard," Sharon says. "You have to constantly weed it. It's because weeds can destroy, poison your garden. Leave only the flowers to bloom."

    Because she has looked at clouds (love and life) from "Both Sides Now", Silver Sharon blossoms all the more in the company of the roses in her life: Kaycee and Frankie.


    Frankie in Hong Kong, 2002

    With Frankie, on the set of Maalaala Mo Kaya, 2001
    With Kaycee, 1996

    WIth Kaycee and Yaya Luring, Glorietta, 2002
    Kaycee on the set of TSCS, 1986


    "I have two precious daughters whom I hope will learn from the person I have become. I hope they will know that a woman doesn't have to be nasty to assert herself. Though as women, we have to be just that when we are stepped on! I hope they will know that they don't have to be weak in order to be taken care of, and that they are well-equipped to take good enough care of themselves, and shine in whatever field they choose to be, not for themselves but for everyone."

    With Kaycee, 1987 The Pangilinans, 2001


    Sharon Takes a Bow

    "My position in the business has afforded me a lot of luxuries and perks, but I have always been aware of the fact that it comes with a huge responsibility. Because it is not only aout taking, but about giving back whatever I can. It is about being worthy of my audience's respect not only for my work but for the way I have lived my life, the many wyas I have stumbled but focused on no other option besides picking myself up and learning from my mistakes. The way a woman can feel a bit discouraged, but should never allow herself to feel defeated. I hope I have been able to show that one can survive in this complicated world of show business with one's decency intact."


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