Family Background
Cecille has three sisters
(one is deceased) and two brothers. Most of her relatives live here in the US.
Her father is the late Roland Villacorta, Sr. He was a businessman in the
automotive industry and a Colonel in the Philippine military reserve. He was
devoted to The Miraculous Black Nazarene and faithfully attended the Friday
processions in Quiapo Church in Manila. Her mother, the late Lourdes Santos
Villacorta, was a dedicated and tireless public servant. She is inspired by her
mother’s devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, also a devotion of
Cecille’s. Before entering public-service, her mother worked in
movie-production at (now-defunct and iconic) Sampaguita Pictures; owned by her mother’s
cousin Dr. Jose R. Perez (deceased) who is touted as the “legendary king of
Philippine movies” and his late wife Azucena Vera-Perez, was the loved-by-all and
highly esteemed “Mama Nene”.
While growing up
Cecille vividly remembers attending movie-filmings, “shootings”, playing with
her cousins, attending weddings and parties at the fabulous Vera-Perez Gardens.
Its landscaping was designed by the uber-talented engineer Vic Pareja. The gardens
feature a grand outdoor staircase more than 60-feet high flanked by two hanging
rock-gardens with waterfalls, littered with exotic orchids, flowers, moss,
giant ferns and multi-color bougainvillas; a large sunken outdoor dance area
that can hold a full orchestra, above this, it is surrounded by several
varied-shaped swimming pools under towering palm trees, ponds with giant
goldfish, a wooden bridge over a natural river alongside a chapel, a majestic
fountain-pool is on the rotunda-driveway entrance, with lush gigantic trees
dripping with yards of Spanish moss and decorated with large hanging white
lanterns. To this day, she’s never seen anything like it! As a child, she also
enjoyed playing with and ogling at Philippine movie-stars who had “shootings” in
her family's home in Metro-Manila. Cecille literally had a very colorful and
entertaining childhood!
