The Interview That Made Zoren and Carmina and Cassy and Mavy Cry

After interviewing Zoren, Carmina, Mavy, and Cassy for "GMA Integrated News Interviews," Nelson Canlas reflects on the celebrity family.

I

have spoken to the Legaspis many times. Zoren alone. Carmina alone. Sometimes one or both of the twins. But never all four of them together. Until now. And believe me when I say that when the Legaspi family sits together in one frame, it is not the wholesome, picture-perfect calm you expect. It is chaos. Glorious, entertaining, and honest chaos.

They sat with me for the GMA Integrated News Interviews to promote their afternoon prime series "Hating Kapatid." But what happened felt less like a promo sit-down and more like being invited to their dinner table. There was laughter, teasing, and stories being thrown back and forth with no one waiting for anyone to finish.

Every question I asked led to a small argument, then laughter, then another argument. Zoren would begin explaining something, Carmina would jump in to correct him. Cassy would side with her dad, and Mavy would end the round with a perfectly timed punchline. It was like watching a tennis ball being tossed back and forth in a match.

This kind of beautiful chaos only happens in families who are genuinely close.

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noticed how the twins have really come into their own. They are confident, smart, and unafraid to express themselves even when it means disagreeing with their parents. You can tell that Zoren and Carmina raised them with the right balance of smothering love, freedom, and discipline.

It was a long and funny interview. I sat there wondering how I could draw out a bit of emotion from this happy, noisy family who seemed to enjoy teasing their Padre de Pamilya every chance they got. It almost felt like a prank they had perfected through the years.

It happened as I was about to close the interview. I asked something simple — almost instinctively, about how caring their kids have become, when Zoren went still. His usual animated face softened. His voice trailed off. His eyes began to glisten. He tried to brush it off, but his laughter could not hide what was already spilling through. Tears.

Carmina looked at him with a mix of surprise and tenderness. She started crying too.

Mavy tried to hold himself together, but his chin trembled, and the tears came anyway. Cassy followed. Her laugh turned into a sigh, and the next thing you knew, her tears were falling too. It was as if they had their own language for showing love, and everyone understood.

Before I knew it, five people were tearing up during that part of the interview.

Then Zoren and Carmina began to share stories. Zoren of how Cassy secretly paid for her dad’s hospital bills when he was confined for a month. Carmina added her own memory of Mavy, just seven years old then, promising his mom that when she grew old, he would carry her up and down the stairs himself.

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omething unfolded there. For an interviewer, I have never witnessed a moment that raw and moving. It was real, and it was the kind of love that only a Filipino family can show so naturally.

And then, as quickly as it began, Zoren broke the heaviness with a half laugh. “Tange kayo eh,” he said, shaking his head as everyone burst into laughter again, still wiping their eyes.

That is the Legaspi family. Loud, funny, unfiltered, and real. They can turn laughter into tears and tears right back into laughter without ever losing their rhythm.

People often say they are too perfect, too polished, too made for television. But that day at the GMA Integrated News studio, it was clear they are something else entirely. And I thank them for giving me a rare glimpse. They are not perfect. They are a family, a real one.

The kind that argues, teases, cries, fears, and forgives.

The simple truth, often overlooked, that reminds you no matter how loud the world gets, love will always find its way back home. — LA, GMA Integrated News