Sha'll Be Back 2006

Sharon Cuneta’s many roles
Marinel R. Cruz Inquirer News Service
“I’M SCARED FOR HIM. IT WOULD BE hypocritical to say I’m not. But at the end of the day, as he always tells me, he’s really just following his principles,” said Megastar Sharon Cuneta when asked to comment on the recent political move of her husband, Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.
Kiko, Senate majority leader (Liberal Party), has called for the resignation of President Macapagal-Arroyo. Other LP leaders who have demanded that Ms Arroyo step down are Senate President Franklin Drilon and Senators Manuel Roxas II and Rodolfo Biazon.
“We may have [political] differences, but [these are always handled] respectfully,” Sharon told a group of writers over lunch last week. “A perfect illustration is the friendship I’ve maintained with the Estradas. I may not agree with some things that transpired during President Joseph Estrada’s administration, but that did not diminish my affection for [the deposed leader and his family]. I never discussed this before.”
But Sharon did not say whether or not she agreed with her husband’s position. “Friendship is different,” she explained. For instance, she said, she has known the former president’s son, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, since she was 13.
“Kiko was never really close to (the Estradas). He only got to know Jinggoy when the latter became a senator, too,” she said. “What I want is for our country to get better —this is because I have children. I’m a mother, first and foremost.”
Need to lose weight
Kristina Cassandra or KC is Sharon’s eldest daughter from her previous marriage to former actor Gabby Concepcion. She and Kiko have two daughters—Frankie, 4, and Miel, 1.
Sharon took a break from show biz because of her last pregnancy, which turned out to be delicate. She had gotten pregnant immediately after filming Mark Meily’s “Crying Ladies” in 2003. She was set to resume hosting her TV show on ABS-CBN last February, but opted to rest until the end of 2005.
“I need to lose more weight,” Sharon said. “From the time I got back after the US concert tour in June, I have dropped 14 pounds. I thought of going back to work in July, but there had been too little time to prepare and I still was heavy. In the end, I said since January is my birthday month, I might as well do everything then—turn a year older, start the New Year and start a new show. Hopefully, I’d look much more presentable.”
Her new show, Sharon noted, would be “something that the viewers and I would enjoy.”
She recounted that the last show was supposed to be “something like ‘Oprah.’ But often, the audience just wanted to laugh and be entertained, so we had to give in to that. The new show would be the magazine type.”
Sharon co-produced Meily’s “La Visa Loca” with Unitel Pictures last summer. The movie top-billed her former boyfriend, Robin Padilla, and Rufa Mae Quinto under Meily’s direction.
Though “La Visa Loca” did not do so well in the box-office, she said, she was very proud of it. “It’s a perfectly good film. If we overlooked anything, maybe it was that children were more into the ‘fun’ side of things. I think the movie will be better appreciated by a foreign audience, though. It was loved by an older audience here, but kids 13 to 15—nabibigatan sila.”
Many roles
She would continue producing films, Sharon vowed. “It’s a business. You have to save up for the next if the first one didn’t really give you enough to produce two or three. Later on maybe we’ll do small movies with talented comedians, or movies that are really dramatic. There are so many things we can do.”
The press lunch launched Sharon as endorser of Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise. Sharon and a group of friends shared assorted dips, which they made themselves, using the product.
“In acting you play a role, in endorsing you are following a story board but you are putting your credibility on the line,” the Megastar, arguably the country’s top endorser, said. “If I had accepted all endorsement offers presented to me, I would be tens of millions of pesos richer. It’s simple: If it’s something I don’t eat, I turn down the offer; or if it’s a new product, I always ask for samples. Yung iba, kahit ano papatulan basta magka-pera. We all need to make a living but we should also be discerning.”