WATCH: Angelina Cruz on turning 18; following Sunshine Cruz, Cesar Montano in acting

MANILA, Philippines — Angelina Cruz, eldest daughter of actors Sunshine Cruz and Cesar Montano, has marked her 18th birthday recently through an intimate celebration with family and friends.

Hours before her birthday party, Angelina was interviewed by the media during her launch as new Instax Philippines endorser together with good friends Leila Alcasid and Ylona Garcia.

"It's just a dinner, no program. It's going to be simple lang," Angelina said on the details of her party.

She said she did not ask her parents for anything and it was really her choice to not have a cotillion and all the works of a big debutante shindig.

"My manager wanted it to be a big thing, but I pushed to make it intimate," she enthused.

Angelina told Philstar.com that her father Cesar was invited to her party, but photos that circulated on the Internet showed no sign of Cesar in the celebration.

"Happiness," Angelina simply said when asked for a birthday wish.

"Happiness from being loved by people," she said when asked to elaborate.

"I wish for you to find happiness and to succeed in whatever you want to succeed in and to always do exactly what you're meant to do," Leila said as a birthday wish for Angelina.

"Happy birthday. My wish is for you to get all that you wish for and to truly be happy," added Ylona.

When asked if Angelina would ask her mother Sunshine to give her more freedom now that she has reached legal age, Angelina said her mom is not strict to her.

“She's not that strict naman eh. We're really close. You know, she's not strict even before I turned 18 because she trusted me and we trust each other,” the young singer enthused.

Angelina celebrated her debut at the Blackbird restaurant at Nielson Tower in Makati City. Some of her guests included other celebrity children like Lorin Gutierrez, Leon Barretto, and Mavy and Cassy Legaspi.

During Angelina's launch as Instax endorser, she sang one of her hits that has reached over a million Spotify streams, her version of the Orange and Lemons classic “Hanggang Kailan (Umuwi Ka Na Baby)."

During the event, the brand also launched its “Don’t just take, give” global campaign, which encourages the brand's users to be colorful, fun, real and generous. It also aims to empower users to give in terms of their creativity, imagination and point of view to people, moments and ultimately, the world.

Angelina, Leila and Ylona particularly go for Mini 9 and the Mini LiPlay, the brand's smallest and lightest packed with new features such as the “Sound” function to record up to 10 seconds of audio, and the “Direct Print” function to print images via the smartphone on film. For arts and crafts fanatics, the brand will soon release the Mini 9 Craft Kit in partnership with Craft Easy, a package that includes the Mini 9 camera, Mini Glossy 10s, 10 colorful wooden clips, two washi tapes and 24 pcs. of photo corner stickers.

Now that she's 18, from a singer and endorser, Angelina also spreads her wings and horizon as a young actress with a movie project with Star Cinema.

"I'm starting to practice my Tagalog," she dished on how she is preparing for her new acting career.

"For acting, you really have to sacrifice time for it," she said on what she has discovered about acting so far.

She admitted that there is pressure to follow her parents' footsteps, but her mom always told her to "always practice and give it my all."

"There's pressure. I have to really live up to the high expectations that people have for me because of my parents," she confessed.

"I just want to do what makes me happy naman. I want to create expectations based on what I want to do, what makes me happy as an actress." — Reports from Jan Milo Severo, video by Deni Bernardo, editing by Kat Leandicho