MANILA, Philippines — When actresses Vanessa and Stella Hudgens lost their dad Gregory, a firefighter of Irish, French and Native American descent, to cancer in 2016, their Filipina mom, Gina Guangco-Hudgens, has single-handedly raised them since.
At last Friday’s Manila media briefing for Vanessa’s travel documentary, Gina was asked to share her experience as a Filipina single mom.
“Raising two girls in America, I try to infuse the Filipino culture and kindness is number one,” she said.
Although Vanessa confessed that she was brought up to be “very American – except for the rice, Adobo and Pancit” – Gina espoused that she never forgot her Filipina values and to pass them on to her kids.
Related: Vanessa Hudgens: ‘I was raised very American except for the rice!’
“Not to forget who they are. To be true to themselves because that’s the only way they can be living examples to other people and kindness is always, always number one in my vocabulary and just to put restriction on little things and clinging on things that don’t matter. Because at the end of the day, family is so important,” she explained.
When asked if she also ever hit her kids like some Filipino parents do, she said: “Never. Because I don’t believe in hatred and punishment. I raised them with true love and respect.”
Stella agreed, saying that “The three of us are all very close. We do a lot of things together. We went to the Philippines for the first time especially for Vanessa and I, it’s been beautiful. We kind of all go through life being there for each other, support each other, love each other, which is a huge part of the Filipino culture.”
“Yeah, I think it was a rollin’ kind of type in some ways, and very chaotic in another, but you know, that’s what kind of works for us so we’re all very happy and private,” she added.
For Vanessa, their closeness as a family makes them very Filipino.
“It’s always about the family. I always hear about the closeness of your family. When someone gets married, they kind of move in to the family home. It was like… when you go to college, you don’t need a house. Everybody sticks together,” she said of Filipino heritage.
“I’m here with my mom and my sister and this is the hub for family. And I get to be here with my family.”
Although Vanessa admitted that she lost a Hollywood project because she is not Black or Latina, she is very proud of her Filipino roots and her Filipina mom.
“I am who I am because of her. We’re all a product of my parents and especially our mother, being able to produce us into this world,” she said.
“My mom has always been very supportive, very kind, very grounded and humble. And I feel like that really has given me the outlook that I have today and it’s probably one of the reasons why I am here, because of who I am.”
When asked if she would like to produce or star in a movie about her mom, Vanessa said, “Now that you’ve mentioned that, a seed has planted. Let’s water that, maybe!”
Vanessa wants to know more about her Filipino roots, which is why she was in the country recently to shoot the TEN17P travel documentary with the working title “The Awakening.”
When asked what took her so long to visit the country for the first time, Vanessa explained that it is because soon, it will be her turn to pass down Filipino values to her future family and kids.
“I’m in my 30s now, I think about raising a family. I want to be able to know my heritage so that I can bring that forth, so my kids can know their background, know more about their own blood,” she vouched.
“I’m really emotional at this moment, bringing my kids and seeing these beautiful faces,” Gina shared.
“Love, forgiveness, happiness, and the pursuit of happiness is always the key to living a wonderful life!” she described her relationship with her daughters.
“Believe in the power of love!"