Romnick Sarmenta on fatherhood: ‘Not always perfect, but I try to be there’
Romnick Sarmenta has admitted how hard it is for a father like him to “not always have the capacity to provide” for everything that his children need.
“Iba-iba, eh. You know they are different,” he recently told The STAR on how he would express his affection for his kids. “There are times when they are going to need something and I hope I have the capacity to provide, you know. There are times when they just need time. There are times when they just need to spend a few minutes with you on the phone. It’s just an exchange of words.”
“So, iba-iba, eh (it varies). It depends on the love language of the child and it depends on what they need that moment,” he went on.
“I try to be there. It’s not always perfect. Sometimes, I’m working, doing things. Minsan nagtuturo ako (sometimes, I teach), sometimes, I’m just indisposed (but) I try to be there.”
Apart from acting, Romnick also teaches college courses at the Trinity University of Asia. Since 2019, he had been giving lessons about broadcasting, emerging media and other communication subjects to college students.
“Hindi palagi, eh, you don’t always have the capacity to provide for everything that they (children) need. And you know for a father, that’s difficult,” he asserted.
“If your child suddenly says, ‘I want to study abroad.’ Do I have the capacity at this moment na sinabi niyang gawin yun for her? Probably not and that makes me feel bad. Because that’s my limitation. But I don’t shy away from it and I will support it if I can,” he added.
On how he is as a dad to his six children, the award-winning thespian said, “I really don’t know. I don’t think I’m going to be able to describe myself as a father. I think my kids would be the best to answer that.”
Nevertheless, he said he’d like to think of himself as “strict and at the same time, considerate.”
“I would like to think that I am open-minded as a father. But I guess, being a father, I just realized a few years ago that parang it’s something that you can claim in title, but you really can’t claim in function. You need to learn it along the way with your kids. You need to learn it every day,” he continued.
The veteran actor has five children with former wife Harlene Bautista. They are Abijah, Zeke, Bohdana, Nirel and Uela. Romnick and his current partner Barbara Ruaro have Raza.
When it comes to his co-parenting setup with Harlene, he shared, “I get to borrow the kids. She gets to decide on a lot of things. And I think that’s normal. Kahit naman magkasama kayo sa bahay (Even if you’re together at home), most of the time, the mother gets to decide on a lot of things. So, it’s OK. What’s important with me is that I get to spend time with my kids and they get to spend time with me and their siblings and brother.”
Harlene, on the other hand, is in a relationship with the son of the late German Moreno, Federico. Romnick described Federico as an “amazing guy.” He has “respect” for the latter whom he had known for a while.
“He is the son of Kuya Germs. Kuya Germs is like a father to us. Imposibleng hindi ko siya makilala. And he is really a very decent, very nice guy. Even my daughters keep saying how nice he is with them. So, I can only be grateful,” he added.
The STAR was able to speak to the actor during the press conference for Unbreak My Heart, held recently at Seda Vertis North Hotel in Quezon City. In the first series collaboration of GMA, ABS-CBN and Viu, Romnick portrays Mario Isidro, replacing Gardo Versoza, who was originally tapped for the role but had to step back due to health condition. Gardo suffered a heart attack and underwent angioplasty a few months ago.
Asked how he would “unbreak a broken heart” based on his own experience, Romnick stated, “You don’t. I’m being philosophical about it. You can’t unbreak something that is broken. What you can do is build on it. You can heal, you can move forward (and) you can do something with it.”
“What comes to mind automatically is kintsugi (a Japanese art). I don’t know if you are familiar with that. It’s the mending of broken pots with gold. That’s always been a spiritual thing to me na parang if you see something that is broken, with most people, their reaction is to throw it away,” he shared.
“But the Japanese see beauty in it and they decide, ‘I will make this more functional and more beautiful by including gold.’ So, I always keep that in mind. What if God sees you that way? And He decides no matter how you don’t understand this or how complex it is for you, ‘I can build you up if you allow Me and you will be more useful and beautiful afterwards.’”
Following that train of thought, Romnick put his faith on God. “I want to believe that God has that for everyone so you don’t unbreak. You allow yourself to be build up again by your experiences and hopefully, you learn something from it. And that you move forward, looking at life in a better way,” he reflected.
Meanwhile, Romnick shared he didn’t feel any “awkwardness” when he did a kissing scene with Ice Seguerra in iWantTFC digital series, Drag You & Me.
“I found out on the set on that day because I don’t usually read a script. Hindi naman nag-i-inarte si Ice and then the way it was treated naman kasi essential dun sa mag-asawa. They’re going through something and it’s not going to be treated in a way that’s sensual or romantic. Sige lang, walang problema,” he said about the scene.
(Unbreak My Heart airs on GMA Telebabad, Pinoy Hits, and I Heart Movies at 9:35 p.m. from Mondays to Thursdays, 11:25 p.m. on GTV, and is also available on GMA Pinoy TV and TFC. It also streams on GMANetwork.com and iWantTFC, as well as in 16 territories outside of the Philippines via Viu.)
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