Richard Gutierrez is going to be a dad again. He already has his son Zion. Now his fiancée, Sarah Lahbati, is carrying their second child, Kai.
“We’re happy to have two boys. Medyo magulo ngayon ito. Masaya,” the 33-year-old Kapamilya actor tells PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) and YES! magazine.
“Growing up, puro boys yung mga kapatid ko. So, naiintindihan ko rin having a lot of boys in the family.”
While he already has experience with fatherhood through his firstborn, the La Luna Sangre star is still establishing the kind of father he wants to be.
He says, “Ako, I’m trying to be the dad that tries to understand and listen and adapt to my son’s needs. Hindi ko ini-impose yung what I think should be done.
“I try to make them learn on their own, but of course, guidance—pero, parang, hindi yung super strict guidance.
“I tell them what’s right and wrong, but I want them to make their own decisions in life.”
Richard hopes to be like his own dad, Eddie Gutierrez, who, he says, didn’t tie them down with expectations.
“He wasn’t the super strict dad, but told us, if it’s wrong, 'You’re wrong.'
“He disciplined us when we were wrong, but he made us make our own choices in life.
“I want that for Zion.
“I don’t want him to be too tied up.”
ZION IN SHOWBIZ
Richard was four years old when he made his showbiz debut alongside his twin, Raymond Gutierrez, in the 1987 film, Takbo, Bilis… Takbo.
Would he allow Zion to take the same route he did?
The father of one quickly replies, “No, maybe not that early.”
As a celebrity kid in the age of social media, Zion already seems to have an idea that his family is famous.
Even with cameras following him, the four-year-old kid appears to be at ease.
Richard remarks, “He’s used to people, he’s used to cameras.
“Hindi siya yung mahiyain, so nae-enjoy niya yung company ng mga tao. That’s a good thing.”
But Richard is firm in keeping Zion’s childhood away from the limelight.
He says, “[I want Zion to] go to school, live normally, do whatever he wants—either athletics or arts. It’s up to him.
“I want him to have a separate childhood.”
Would it be up to Zion if he wants to enter showbiz?
Richard answers, “Whenever he wants.”