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EXCLUSIVE: Leila Alcasid on living with her dad Ogie Alcasid: ‘He didn’t know where to be strict’

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Rhea Manila Santos

It’s been more than two years since she moved to Manila from Australia and Leila Alcasid admitted there’s been a lot of big adjustments. “Probably one big aspect is being in the public eye. Because I grew up in a very small town, a very quiet life, I just went to school and everything was normal. And then coming here the biggest adjustment was especially on social media there was a lot of people watching closely what you do. But it’s generally been a very positive change for the most part. Everyone’s very welcoming. The other adjustment was learning how to understand Tagalog and still learning how to speak it. I love the food though. My mom kind of jokes that she’s a Filipino at heart so even at home she would cook adobo, lechon kawali, and stuff like that. Tortang talong is one of my favorites. So she 2still cooked Filipino food while I was growing up so I was quite used to it,” she shares during the Fuji Instax pictorial held earlier this month. Having grown up in Australia, Leila admitted it was also a big adjustment living with her dad Ogie Alcasid for the very first time. “I haven’t lived with my dad since I was four years old. So living in a house with my dad, my stepmom, my brother, it really taught me a lot about who they are as people and how our relationships have developed. Again, a very positive adjustment. Because my relationship with him growing up is that he would visit every couple of months, so we had a very light relationship. There wasn’t much of the disciplinary stuff. It was always the fun happy stuff and then when I moved here it introduced all of that, you stuff you don’t really want to deal with. So of course it came with things like curfews and dating and stuff like that,” she explained.Leila said she is glad her dad is not as strict as when she first arrived in the country. “For a while he was a little strict and that was something we had to sort out, because I also am turning 22, so we had to find a balance between I had to respect him because he’s my father and I’m living in his house and he also had to respect me as an adult. So when I first moved here he was like, ‘I don’t want you to date anyone, I don’t want you to go out, You have to be home by this time.’ He didn’t know where to be strict, where to be lenient, which I totally get because even my mom until now says she’s winging it. He would also kind of go to her and go to my stepmom. But I love how much of a family-oriented person he is. Especially with the family set up that I have. He really taught me a lot of the values that I have now just through example, seeing how he is with my mom, seeing how he is with my stepdad and my stepmom and my siblings, it really taught me how to be thoughtful of everyone. He’s always thinking about everyone’s needs. He’s very generous, which I love,” she shared.Even when she started dating fellow singer Curtismith, Leila said that introducing him to her dad did not create any problems between them. “Actually my dad is very young minded I guess. He’s very mature. He’s very wise. He gives me a lot of advice but he also knows when to kind of take it easy and be relaxed. He’s up to date with all the current music and current trends, he’s very up with the current fashion trends I’ve noticed and he always likes to listen to me talk about whatever it is I’m interested in. Whatever it is, whether it be different bands or different fashion or news and stuff. I guess that’s just how we really communicate with each other. He also loves to tell me how it was when he was growing up here because I’m really interested in learning about Philippine history, politics, and all that kind of stuff because it’s important for me to know even if I didn’t live here my whole life. So he’s really good because he loves to tell me stories about it and we always have discussions. So I share with him all the contemporary stuff and he loves to tell me all about when he was growing up. We talk a lot and that’s how we bridge the gap,” she said.

Singer Leila Alcasid talks about growing up in Australia and moving to Manila to live with her dad Ogie Alcasid.