MANILA -- “I have the katarayan and naughtiness that she had!,” Cris Siguion-Reyna Villonco said proudly, when asked what she took after her grandmother, Armida Siguion-Reyna.

“I noticed that people are sometimes scared of me, whether or not I’m a Siguion-Reyna or perhaps the way I look. I have to say maybe I got that from her.”

Siguion-Reyna died last Monday evening at Makati Medical Center after battling with cancer. She was 88.

• 'She has art in her heart': Armida Siguion-Reyna dies at 88

Contrary to what many people think, Villonco attested she is not the favorite grandchild of Siguion-Reyna, whom she fondly called “Mahal.” Villonco might only be the most visible or the one always in the limelight, along with her cousin, Rafa Siguion-Reyna, son of director Carlitos Siguion-Reyna and screenwriter-actress Bibeth Orteza.

“We were all her favorites,” countered Villonco, the daughter of Monique Siguion-Reyna and lawyer Opap Villonco. “We are six grandchildren and Mahal spoiled us in very many ways.”

Villonco’s fondest memories of “Mahal” are the moments with her when they were in the recording studio. “She was teaching me my diction and how to sing a Filipino song, a kundiman, and to sing it with heart and soul poured into the song,” she said.

The greatest lesson she learned from her Mahal: “If you speak, you speak with conviction and make sure you know what you’re talking about. Make sure that you have defended everything in your head so nobody can come back at you with something that you’re not prepared for.”

The most memorable moments with “Mahal” were the times they traveled with the whole family. “That was always a nice time to gather everyone together,” Villonco offered. “The whole family is artistically busy and there are lawyers and artists. We make the time to come together and spend time together.”

Travelling was also a great time for the family to bond. “We spent long hours in the bus together and we would eat. We love to eat. Mahal showered us with a lot of food and a lot of love.”

While Villonco loved her “Mahal” deeply, they also got into disagreements and misunderstanding. “Mahal and I would always fight, contrary to what people think about our relationship. We would always fight and I would always cry so hard, to the point of making dabog and almost walking out of her show.”

The time Villonco cropped her hair became a major fight between her and Siguion-Reyna.

“She got mad at me because I cut my hair too short. She said, ‘Hindi kumakanta ng mga kundiman ang mga taong may maiksing buhok.’ I knew it just irritated me and I got really hurt, so I walked out of the rehearsal auditorium. I kept crying and crying and crying.”

No matter how serious the fight got, Villonco knew there was really “a special bond” between her and “Mahal.”

“All of these times that we would have these situations or she would threaten me that she would replace me with somebody else, that’s when I realized that she had such an effect on me because I and would cry and ball my eyes out.”

To kiss and make up was not a big deal. “I would just show up all of a sudden in her house or in the auditorium or I would call her and we just ended up crying. That was our special bond.”

Like Siguion-Reyna, Villonco is a stickler for diction and clarity. “Mahal was very, very insistent on how to sing a song, speak the language and respect the Filipino language.

“Respect for the Filipino language, freedom of expression and the ability to be able see through people are very important to her.”

The last few weeks of Siguion-Reyna with the family were “nice and peaceful” final moments, as Villonco described it.

“I would call her ‘Ganda’ and she would light up every time,” she recalled. “She always loved being called ‘Maganda.’ We were always there for her every Sunday. We would be there for lunch, most of the time.

“It was a nice time for all of us to get together. She loved the idea that we were all together. We always celebrated with her. Whatever it may be, she was always the center of our lives.”