Dennis Padilla on Julia Barretto greeting him on his birthday: 'Bigla na lang tumulo ang luha ko'
Dennis Padilla was moved to tears after he received a sweet greeting from his estranged daughter Julia Barretto on his birthday.
The actor recently celebrated his 62nd birthday last Feb. 9. In an interview with the media, he recounted how he was surprised when he received an unexpected text from Julia on the night of his special day.
"Nung birthday ko, nagulat din ako dahil gabi na nung na-receive ko 'yung text. Nung una nga, sabi ko, 'number pa pala niya ito,'" Dennis said.
"Nag-text lang siya, may short message siya roon tapos sumagot ako tapos mayroon din akong short message. Ang sinagot niya sa’kin ay icon ng heart, so ang sinagot ko ay heart din," he continued.
Despite the simple gesture, it was enough to make Dennis emotional at that moment.
"Actually, hindi ko alam, bigla na lang tumulo ang luha ko," he said.
With this, Dennis hopes that his two other children with Marjorie Barretto, Claudia and Leon, would reach out to him as well.
"Siguro nalaman din ni Claudia tsaka ni Leon na ate texted papa," he said. "Si Leon 'yung huli kong naka-usap eh. Atsaka lalaki 'yun eh kaya talagang namimiss ko siya."
The local star admitted, however, that he wasn't sure whether it was okay for him to discuss what Julia texted him to the media.
"'Yun 'yung nararamdaman ko na okay naman na malaman ng tao na nag-text siya sa'kin. Proud ako," Dennis said.
Right now, he is striving to work on mending his relationship with Julia and his other children by communicating with them more "privately."
"I think I should talk to her more privately kasi hindi ko alam kung 'yung mga numbers nila ay existing pa. Tapos may nagturo din sa'kin na hindi mo malalaman na naka-block ka, so there was a time na hindi na muna ako magrereach out kasi palagay ko naka-block ako," he said.
Dennis recounted how he tried to call them in the past, but when he wasn't receiving any replies, he assumed that he was blocked.
"That's why I always greet them sa special occasion, Christmas, New Year, birthday, Valentine's. Binabati ko lang sila usually sa Instagram ng greetings ko, and I'm already sanay na walang reply," he said.
"Kaya nagulat ako na binati ako nung birthday ko," he added.
Following his separation in 2007 with Marjorie, Dennis' relationship with his children became strained. While Julia reached out for reconciliation in 2021, she expressed in a 2023 interview with Karen Davila that healing and forgiveness are ongoing processes, and she isn't ready at this time.
Dennis’ relationship with his children got even more complicated when he aired his disappointment over Julia’s statements. He has since moved on from this and continues to greet his children on special occasions.