SHARON CUNETA: THE STAYING POWER OF A MEGASTAR

For all the gleaming success she has attained in the Philippine entertainment industry, Sharon Cuneta has not lived a flawless life.

“My life also has downs, not just ups, and generally naman I have been really blessed pero hindi maiiwasan ang times na hindi laging masaya ka or medyo laging positive. Meron din bad times na kailangan din ‘yan sa buhay (Bad times cannot be avoided and are also needed in life). I have my own share of worries also, and troubles and problems like all of you. I still worry especially about my kids, my husband, my family.”

After all, it’s not the whole story without the downsides.

For her, the story began in January 1978, when a 12-year-old Sharon Cuneta made her first visit to Vicor Records after her uncle, former Senator and former Vice President Tito Sotto, asked her to record the single “Tawag Ng Pag-Ibig,” which he produced for her. It was then followed by her first TV guesting on Discorama where Sharon felt overwhelmed by her appearance on the show.

“This is the show I watch every week. This is the show that I don’t know how many hundreds of thousands or millions of people watch in the whole country. When it hit me, I couldn’t talk,” she states in The MEGA Treasure Book: Sharon My 40 Years (2018).

Still very humble with all her achievements in film, concerts, endorsements, recording and television, Sharon remains thankful to the industry that made her who she is today.

 “If I had changed anything, I don’t know if I will be in this position. I don’t know if I would be christened as Megastar. By the way, when I get home, that’s all left out the door. I would have changed some things in my personal life, but not in my career. Well, obviously, not get married so early... Also, I would have finished school... But regrets, mostly it was my love life,” she laughs.

“(In terms of career) everything I did was part (of it). Even those that didn’t make so much money, I think they happened because then I was given other opportunities after. They say if you don’t have a chance, you will always have success after success with what you learned. So, when you have failure and you pick yourself up, there’s a very important lesson learned that makes you a better person,” she muses.

Sharon is one of the most successful and acclaimed entertainers in the country, with a career spanning more than four decades. Cuneta has released over 40 albums and starred in over 50 films. She has also won numerous awards, including four FAMAS Awards, three Gawad Urian Awards and two Metro Manila Film Festival Awards. 

She was born on 6 January 1966, in Pasay, Philippines. She is the daughter of former Pasay City Mayor Pablo Cuneta and Elaine Gamboa Cuneta. 

In 1984, Sharon married her screen partner Gabby Concepcion. The couple had a daughter named Kristina Cassandra Concepcion (KC Concepcion) before divorcing in 1987. In 2008, Cuneta married Senator Francis Pangilinan. The couple has three children. 

Cuneta has continued to release albums and star in films throughout her career. She has also hosted several television shows, including Sharon (1996-2001) and The Sharon Cuneta Show (2011-2015). 

Staying in the game

The multimedia megastar admits that with the advent of social media, the map and landscape of the entertainment industry has dramatically changed. 

“I started Twitter in 2012. Instagram, the year after. Then I got so used to it, ‘Oh my God, I’m turning into them.’ So, I really said, I’m not gonna allow myself to turn into the kind of people I hate. So, now, I’m just hay, I’m like bulletproof, Teflon. (But yes, I’m quite fearless). I’ve earned it, sweetheart. If they’re gonna bash me behind a false name and some are not anymore bashing, it’s like ruining your pagkatao (inner person). It’s really when they touch on people I love that I go ballistic,” she says.

Encountering negative comments and bashers every now and then, the Megastar has this to say: “Bashers I used to really patol (confront)… I like to keep open communication but some come in. But you know they’re doing it for a reason you already know — whether for someone else or something else. So, don’t engage na lang (anymore) or sometimes I get in one line. Ganito, ganyan. ‘Wag tayo tanga’ (This or that. Let’s not be stupid),” she laughs. “Pag sumagot (If they still reply), delete, block, finished.”

Sharon also thanks her true friends in show business, a source of strength. 

“Ang feeling ko because my friends in showbiz, the ones who are frank talaga, will tell you the truth. Even sina Judy Ann (Santos), direk Joyce Bernal, of course my team, everybody will tell me, ‘Hinihintay ka lang (They are just waiting), Ate, just get back to fighting form.’

“After that, my perspective changed. I looked at myself in the mirror, ‘You’re not going out like this. What are you doing to yourself? Shape up.’ It’s taken me almost three years, but I’ve really shaped up (over 70 lbs. lost). I have a few to go. But I’m very happy and I feel healthier. My friends are very honest with me. They always make plans to have get-togethers and hang out,” she said. 

As for the secret of her staying power in showbiz, Sharon reveals her simple secret. 

 “You know, I really have no idea why I lasted this long. All I can say is I worked hard, harder than the next actress because everybody thought that because I came from a family that was more fortunate, I would be a brat. My father (the late Pasay City Mayor Pablo Cuneta) and mother (Elaine Cuneta) spoiled me in terms of I have everything I needed. But I was never a brat, my brother and I, because my parents would have not allowed it. (My parents taught me) humility and just being grateful every day that you are blessed out of how many millions of people in the world. So when I like to whine and obsess over a problem I just knock some sense into my head and I remind myself of that,” Sharon says.

“I’m grateful to God. I’m grateful to people who helped me. I’m grateful to my fans. I’m grateful to everyone who had a part in building my career. I’m so overwhelmed,” she said.