Mega-Mom Elaine Gamboa-Cuneta waxes nostalgic about her priceless princess. "We used to wear watching mumus at home." And whenever the five-year-old Shawie would hear music being played at the mall, she would dance and sing at the drop of a hat, with a borrowed hairbrush as microphone. The girl grew up in paradise, specifically Paraiso Street in Dasmarinas Village, Makati. A tony, high-security subdivision, Dasma is the type of neighborhood where yayas are given seminar-workshops in the local Montessori school. Sosyal. Miss Mega's neighbors in the village include the Egyptian Ambassador, International Jet-setter Minnie Osmena and Concert Queen Pops Fernandez's mom Dulce Lukban. Mega-sosyal. We are met at the gate of the Cuneta home by Sharon's trophies. Really. A maid is on her way out, to deliver Sharon's FAMAS, FAP, Star and Awit awards to the Artist House office for the Music Museum memorabilia exhibit. Also to be sent are three thick photo albums of her concert tours abroad. This is a golden opportunity for us to try out our long-rehearsed acceptance speech: "I would like to thank my mom, my dad and my parents." Inay! In the interest of science and investigative journalism, we compare the weight of the FAMAS vis-a-vis the FAP trophy. The verdict: FAMAS, solid and donated by Kislap is heavier than the gold-plated FAP. We are now inside the Cuneta mansion where the Megastar spent a good part of her childhood. To be specific, we're in the living room (the same hall where Sharon and Kiko exchanged "I do's" for the secret wedding of the year) welcomed by a uniformed Yaya Sonia. Phone rings. Yaya Sonia answers the telephone and dutifully writes down the request: 10 complimentary tickets for Sharon's Music Museum shows. Scattered all over the living room are old pictures of the Cuneta clan: four-year-old KC with Lolo and Lola; Mommy Elaine and Ma'am Mega inside the dressing room; young Chet, in spiffy white pilots' uniform, with Mayor Pablo; the wedding portrait of Mayor and Ma'am; two autographed Polaroid snapshots of Sharon with Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos in Hawaii (dated 1987). The most recent photo is on the end table: KC and half-sister Cloie smiling sweetly for the camera. In the adjacent foyer, the rest of Sharon's plaques and trophies (from groups as diverse as Guillermo Mendoza Foundation and Jingle Publications) are displayed like museum artifact. There are at least seven golden crowns in the foyer - indisputable proof of Sharon's nobility as a Box Office Queen Hall-of-Famer. Mega-Mom Elaine Gamboa-Cuneta is in the dining room taking a slice of Mercedes de Brazo, with yet another press interview, as she waits for Mayor Pablo who is catnapping in the bedroom. (Mr. Mayor, Mommy Elaine apologizes, slept late the night before watching, like the rest of the nation, Velasco's silver-winning fight in Atlanta.) At first, she was a bit hesitant to grant her nth interview about her celebrated daughter. Ma'am Elaine, in fact, made a recent guest appearance in the TV talk show Teysi ng Tahanan to talk about Shawie's childhood, Miss Mega's Wonder Years. "What else has not been written about Sharon?" As late afternoon slowly turns to early evening, the conversation becomes increasingly colorful and free flowing. It is very clear from whom Sharon inherited her gift of gab. In the Cuneta dining room is a life-size standee of Miss Mega dressed as Super Ferry Captain, a duplicate of the one in Ma'am Elaine's office in Pasay City Hall. "I was supposed to bring that one to my office," Mommy Elaine explains. Ma'am Elaine calls Shawie her dad's girlfriend, and Mayor Pablo, "my sweetheart, Sharon's boyfriend." She points to the standee in the dining hall. Sharon, however, refused to part with the dining-room standee and had another one made - pronto. "One I could take to the office." Ma'am Elaine says Sangguniang Kabataan members in Pasay love to pose beside the Super Ferry standee. Mega-Mom Elaine Gamboa-Cuneta is obviously proud of her Mega-Baby. When did she realize that Sharon has ceased to be an ordinary daughter and has assumed a new role as Megastar? "To be honest, we never noticed it before," Mommy Elaine responds. "Since she was a Mayor's daughter, we got used to seeing people gathering around her. In fact, it was only in the States that we realized how big a star she was. When members of the Filipino community fussed over her." Ma'am Elaine remembers a particularly "heavenly" concert abroad. "Siyempre parang langit and pakiramdam," Mom Elaine recalls. "Like her Shrine Auditorium concert in Los Angeles. Sharon was one of the few artists who was able to draw SRO crowds. Kung ilan ang tao sa labas, gan'on din karami sa loob. That's why if you go to the Auditorium you could see Sharon's picture displyed side by side with the other two Hall of Famers." The other two: Sina Sheena Easton and Michael Jackson lang naman. Sharon, in fact, caused a major traffic jam in LA, so much so that City Mayor Tom Bradley became curious. "Who's performing?" he asked. The Pinoys were naturally proud to inform the Good Mayor: "She's our Filipina actress. Sharon Cuneta. She's very good." "Nanood tuloy si Mayor Bradley," Ma'am Elaine now relates. He was so impressed with Sharon. He gave her a plaque. An adopted daughter of the City of Angels. "Kahit yong mga Amerikanong nanood, natuwa kay Sharon," Mom Elaine beams." Kahit 'yung mga security napasayaw." The future Megastar's not-so modest beginnings as a concert performer coincidentally began in the States. "Whenever we'd go to shopping malls abroad and Sharon would hear a band playing, she would stand on a platform and sing and dance with a borrowed hairbrush as micrphone." As early as then, Sharon, five years young, was already brimming with stage confidence. "Mana sa akin," Ma'am Elaine enthuses. The young Sharon - quite figuratively - grew up surrounded by music. She used to listen to her dad's collection of 45s, 78s and 33 1/3s. "She grew up listening to Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra," Mommy Elaine enumerates. "She used to sing songs like Misty, Together Again, and Impossible Dream." With the car radio as background, Shawie sang back-to-back with the King of Novelty: "Another favorite was Yoyoy Villame's Mag-exercise Tayo, Tuwing Umaga," Mom Elaine reveals. Sharon was quite chubby when she was a kid. "I asked the modista to make a mumu with a slit up to here for Sharon," says Mom Elaine. "One just like mine. That was our pambahay. Gusto kasi niya terno kami. And whenever anyone would say Divina Valencia (who was the reigning bold queen then), Sharon would lift the slit of the mumu's skirt, to show off her plump legs! She was such a doll." Because Mom Elaine wanted Sharon to shed some pounds, she enrolled her baby in myriad dance classes. "At the same time, I wanted to see the child's inclination. So I took her to the Hawaiian, Tahitian and ballet classes at the old Goldcrest in Makati." Sharon, until now, could dance a mean hula. Ballet, however, proved to be her Waterloo. "Her kidneys coudn't take it. She lost weight, though." Sharon was naturally inclined towards the arts, says mum. "Magaling ang kamay. She used to paint. Naloko rin sila ni Chet sa photography. Lalo na no'ng bagong labas 'yong Instamatic ng Kodak. She used to take pictures of her dog, cats, plants, of us. Arts and hilig niya." And music. It's in the genes. Not Levi's silly. But genes. Makeup and musicality flow in her veins. Aunt is of course '60s Shingaling Sweetheart Helen Gamboa. "According to Mayor, his lola used to sing in the church choir," say Mrs. C. Mom Elaine, who studied piano at the UST's Conservatory of Music with sopranos Sylvia La Torre and Irma Potenciano, used to play the piano at the family music room in the afternoon. "At six, pag dating ni Mayor galing sa office, I would start playing the piano. Sharon would always ask me: 'Mommy ko, can I sing with you?" And the whole family sang at dusk. "Parang lahat ng frustration ko, ipinagpatuloy ng anak ko," Mom Elaine quips candidly. "That's why I'm very thankful to God for giving me a daughter like Sharon and a son like Chet." "I was Miss Aviation in my youth." The young Pampanguena - a Spanish-American mestiza - was even crowned Miss Luzon in the Miss Philippines beauty contest. "We even paraded down Dewey Boulevard. In fact, Sampaguita Pictrues wanted to sign me up. I was with Rita Gerona, the editor of Kislap. She just arrived from the States then. I appeared in the original Bondying, with Fred Montilla, and in Menor de Edad. You can see my name in the credits." Still Mrs. C was initially apprehensive when Danny Zialcita, after the Parade of Stars at the Cebu Filmfest, approached her. "Ang uso noon bold. But they assured the Mayor that Sharon's debut would be wholesome." Another thing: "Sharon wasn't that good in Tagalog then. So tinuruan ng Tita Mina (Aragon, wife of Viva big boss Vic del Rosario) niya na mag-salita ng Tagalog. Pinag-basa ng mga komiks. Sharon sang the theme song of Langis at Tubig which was directed by Danny Zialcita and starred Sharon's Ate Vilma Santos. "Sha's really close to her Ate Vi who used to be a neighbor here in Dasma. In fact, Sha used to fetch her Ate Vi 'Ate Vi, let's go to my house.' They used to swim in the pool. She loves her Ate Vi." Sharon the tot made her first TV appearance in Kuya Ike Lozada's show. "In the Bulilit portion, where she mimicked her Tita Helen's songs." Shawie was just as young when she appeared in her first movie, the Rosanna Ortiz-George Estregan starrer Lovers for Hire. "She played one of Roderick Paulate's playmates. My mom was the one who brought her to the movie set. Tinakas nang hindi alam ni Mayor." Mrs. C thought all hell would break lose, once the Mayor found out about his prized daughter's screen debut. " Actually, he got upset because Sharon's name was not included in the credits...." Thus, the producers moved heaven and earth to rectify the oversight. Mrs. C solves one of life's greatest mysteries. "When I was pregnant with Sharon," she reveals a little-known fact, "I craved for lechon. Manibalang na mangga and apples." No wonder the adult Sharon turns weak-kneed whenever she sees "balat ng lechon." Which is this Superwoman's only known Kryptonite. "Whenever she visits us for Sunday lunch, parang fiesta dito," Mrs. Cuneta stretches her arms toward the empty dining table. "Favorite niya ang lechon e," Mom winks conspiratorially. Mom turns serious. "You know I appreciate Sharon's visits to us, her mom and dad." Mayor, spunky at 84, oftentimes gets impatient waiting for her favorite daughter. "Bakit wala pa siya? What time is it? Tapos na ang shooting a!" Mayor Pablo would ask, machine-gun style, Mommy Elaine. "Ano'ng alam ko sweetheart ," Mum Elaine would respond, her voice mellifluous. "Maybe she ate dinner with friends." "Pagalitan mo pagdating," Mayor Pablo would demand. "Scold her." "But, when his girlfriend - that's what I call Sharon - arrives, he would suddenly have amnesia. He would forget he's angry," Mommy Elaine sighs. "Hi Daddy ko," Sharon would kiss him - her boyfriend, that's what I call Mayor. I would goad him: 'Pagalitan mo. Bakit kanina ako ang ina-away mo!'" Mommy Elaine suddenly waxes sentimental: "Tuwang-tuwa si Mayor pag binibisita siya, hinahalikan ng girlfriend niya." Mayor used to make incessant (and insistent) requests that Sharon sing his personal favorite, Don't Cry for Me Argentina, in her weekly Sunday show. Ex-Pasay City Mayor Pablo Cuneta Dies at 90 Pasay City's former mayor and most influential politician Pablo Cuneta succumbed to heart failure Wednesday morning September 27, 2000, while being treated at the Makati Medical Center. He was 90. [ Full Story ] Every time he would see Sharon, he would sharply reprimand her: "You still haven't sung my request!" Until finally Shawie sang Evita's anthem. "Her dad would always threaten Sharon that he would stop watching her show should she fail to greet him," Mom Elaine divulges. "I would tell Sharon: 'Sige ka, your dad's switching channels already.......'" "Sometimes I kid her: 'Hindi mo na ako pinapansin. Lagi na lang ang boyfriend mo. Dati tayo and mag-barkada. Kunwari nagtatampo ako," Mommy Elaine plays the Guilt Game with Shawie. Shawie would embrace her mom: "No naman Mommy ko. She calls me 'Mommy ko.'" Ma'am Elaine remembers Sharon as a smart, gregarious kid. "She's very intelligent. She may not be a valedictorian, but she was always on the honor roll." Precocious and precious. "She would run to me. 'Mommy ko, am I pretty?' 'Of course you are,' I would tell her. 'Do I look like you?' Sha would ask me. 'I don't look like Daddy ko 'no?" Mom Elaine laughs. "Tapos pag dating ng Daddy niya, she would whisper to me: 'Daddy might get mad at me kasi...." Mega-Mom Elaine glows, and smiles at the Super Ferry standee in the well-lighted dining hall.