Melai Cantiveros is allowing her two daughters to work under one condition: they have to enjoy what they are doing.
Melai and fellow Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) housemate Jason Francisco have two children—Mela, 10, and Stela, 7.
Just like their celebrity parents, the two young girls are comfortable in front of the camera.
Just check out the YouTube channel and joint Instagram account of Melai and Jason.
They have also become more visible because of endorsements with their mom Melai.
Just recently, the mother and her daughters headlined a TV commercial for a broth cube brand.
Melai, along with Barbie Forteza, David Licauco, Judy Ann Santos, graced the Maggi X Nestle Cream Food Creator Network event last June 7, 2024.
Read: K-Celebs reaction to Melai Cantiveros' interview and speech at Asia Artist Awards 2023
Melai, in her usual bubbly self, reveals to PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) that she and her kids only took four hours to finish shooting the TV commercial.
“Parang nabitin pa sila. Ang bilis lang. Napakabilis din ng team ng Maggi team. Kasi talaga four hours lang talaga working ng mga bata.
"Alam mo, na-amaze sila. Sabi nila, ‘Mama, ang bilis pala ng trabaho dito.’”
The Child Labor Law by the Department of Labor and Employment stipulates than children under 15 years old are allowed to work only four hours a day and no more than a total of 20 hours per week.
Melai's kids know that working means earning money, but she reminds them to have fun.
Melai says, “Buti na-e-enjoy na nila yung, alam mo yun, yung sa kanila it's just laro. Pero, di ba, sa totoo lang, trabaho siya.”
On her part, Melai could not be happier to work with her daughters, because it serves as their bonding time and earns income, too.
“Pag kasama ako, alam nila na talagang yung parang lang kami naglalaro, parang bonding na rin namin na together.
“Yun talaga yung tinuturo ko sa kanila na ma-enjoy naman nila, para hindi nila makitang trabaho iyan.”
Melai adds that she tries to instill this kind of thinking to her daughters not only when it comes to doing commercials or creating content.
“Lagi kong sinasabi sa kanila, kahit nasa school sila, na huwag kalimutang mag-enjoy.
“So, sa school man kayo or sa work man kayo, ang importante mag-enjoy.
“Kasi kung hindi ka mag-enjoy, hindi maganda ang kalalabasan ng ginagawa mo, so importante talaga na mag-enjoy.”
Read: Melai Cantiveros reveals how she handles misunderstandings with Jason Francisco
MELAI’S STANCE ON HER KIDS JOINING SHOWBIZ
Is Melai allowing her children to try their hand in showbiz?
“Kami mag-asawa naman is very open naman kami sa pag-aartisa ng mga anak namin…
“Ang problema, hindi kasi kami ang mag-aartisa, sila.
“So at the end of the day, bilang mga magulang, alam namin ang resulta ng [pagsu-showbiz].”
Melai goes on to explain that being in showbiz exposes one to a lot of “noise” in the industry, making them vulnerable to criticisms.
Some this noise can cause confusion and hurt.
Melai and Jason strive to protect their daughters from the negative aspects of showbiz without completely shielding them from it.
The couple is determined to let their kids decide for themselves whether to continue in showbiz or pursue a different path when they are old enough.
“So si Jason, sabi niya, ‘Yung mga anak natin, hindi pa marunong mag-decide ng sarili, na kapag dumating yung panahon na marunong na rin sila mag-decide, at sila magdesisyon na mag-artista, ibigay mo.’
“Kasi pag dumating yung panahon, baka sabihin nila, ‘Hanapin ko na sarili ko. Sino ba ako?’ Di ba, yung mga ganon-ganon.
“Ayaw namin magkaroon ng identity crisis, kasi hindi naman pala nila gusto yung pinasok nila, pinush lang namin.
“Bata sila, i-enjoy. May mga blessing na dito. Sa kanila din naman ito pupunta.
“After this, kung gusto nila mag-artista, ibigay. Gusto namin ma-enjoy nila ang kabataan nila.”
Speaking from experience, Melai says when she and Jason joined showbiz after joining PBB in 2009, they went through the process of discovering their identities.
“Tatanungin mo talagang sarili mo, ‘Gusto ko ba ito? Sino ba ako?’ Pero pag tumawag ang nanay mo, kailangan ng bigas, so hahanapin mo talagang sarili mo kung nasaan ang pera. Doon ka talaga pupunta sa pera.
“Alam kasi namin mag-asawa kung gaano kahirap ang nasa show business kasi yung mga criticisms, yun naman ang challenge diyan, yung mawalan ka ng privacy…
“Saka yung hindi lang doon sa labas ang criticisms, pati criticisms sa loob ng show business. Iba pa yung mga matatanggap mo.
“Ayaw ko nga ma-experience nila na bata pa lang nakikipaglaban na sila sa ganun.
“Gusto ko yung dahan-dahan sila mismo ang maka-discover [on] their own, kasi kami naka-discover namin in our own at kaya kong ilaban, kasi pangarap. Gusto ko ito, e. Ginusto ko ‘to dahil hanap-buhay, e.
“So sila dapat, ginusto nila para kahit mahirapan sila, e, ‘Ginusto ko ito, kaya ilaban na lang.’”