The Angel in Cesar and Sunshine’s life

Everybody knows her as the eldest daughter of celebrity couple Cesar Montano and Sunshine Cruz. Angelina captured the public’s interest when she appeared with her dad in the Coffee-Mate TV commercial. The scene was a casual father and daughter conversation at the breakfast table but that was enough for viewers to take notice of Angelina’s innate talent which she obviously inherited from her famous parents.

She surprised everyone during the shooting of the commercial with her natural and effortless acting. Even Cesar and Sunshine were astonished with their daughter’s acting skill. "She practically stole my scene!" says Cesar, joking. Indeed, Angelina is the newest child endorser to grace the limelight.

Angelina is Angelina Isabelle Manhilot in real life. Sunshine gave her daughter the nickname Buching because she always brightens up everyone with her sunny smile. A spitting image of her mom, Buching is a thoughtful daughter and a caring sister to her equally adorable siblings Sam-Sam and Cheska.

Bonding moments with her parents and sisters include visiting their sprawling farm in Pandi, Bulacan on weekends where they could swim, plant trees, harvest vegetables and take a leisurely stroll. The family also goes to church every Sunday. Cesar reads bedtime stories to his lovely daughters before going to sleep.

Angelina loves playing with her Barbie dolls and makeup kit toys. Cesar and Shine would reward her with Barbie dolls whenever she does well in school. She also enjoys watching kiddie movies and programs like Ice Age and Dora the Explorer. The little girl watched Ice Age with dad Cesar on its opening day and soon after its release on DVD, Buching grabbed a copy and watched it again at home.

Angelina has the same artistic and musical inclinations as her dad Cesar. Cesar collects all her works and keeps them inside a vault. "So Angelina could see her drawings when she grows up," Cesar explains. Angelina has done paintings all by herself. She designed some handbags when she was only two years old. Like any proud parent, Cesar saved all these in his laptop and shows them to others. Cesar says, "Angelina started painting the first time she saw me painting. During that time, Buching already knew the right way to hold a brush."

Angelina likes using colored pencils. She can copy simple drawings and then adds her own details. She puts her own style in the art works.

Everybody knows Cesar can sing and play the guitar and piano. Angelina sings well, too. She sang Because of You with Sunshine in one of the episodes of Homeboy. She wants to learn how to play the violin and Cesar is extremely supportive.

Angelina is a kindergarten student at Meridian Learning Experience School in QC. Since it is a trilingual school, Buching learned counting in Mandarin and Spanish. She also sings Mandarin songs with great ease.

Buching is a very good student. She does well in all her class activities. She can measure, count and write numbers correctly. Activities such as mazes and puzzles fascinate her. Buching does not mind doing activities like preparing sandwiches. She stays most of the time in the art area during the guided play period. Here, Angelina explores all the materials she sees in the room and then creates different things from them. She can identify the different feelings she has and can express them through her drawings.

The good kid that she is, Angelina is one of the few who has the initiative to clean up her assigned area without being asked after class activities.

In school, Angelina gets along very well with her classmates. She enjoys dancing and singing with them. Just like her parents, Angelina has a penchant for acting, too. She loves the dramatic play area at school. She enjoys dressing up like a princess and posing for classmates while they use their toy camera.

Angelina is a natural in front of the camera. As if we didn’t expect it!