‘All for our baby girl,’ writes Mariel Rodriguez Padilla on her Instagram posts—her last photo, for now, with husband RobinLike a first-time dadAsked what other plans he has for his mother and child post birth.“I have so many plans for her [their daughter Isabella]. I missed my chance to really be with my other children but this time, I will make sure that I’ll be there for my daughter all the way,” Padilla excitedly shared.His absence during the formative years of his children with ex-wife Liezl Sicangco, coupled with being witness to Rodriguez’ difficult pregnancy led the soon-to-be-dad again appreciate his former partner’s parenting efforts.“I told my ex that I have come to value her sacrifices for my children all the more today. She’s so strong—she was able to fulfill both the role of a mother and father to them,” the former “Bad Boy of Philippine Cinema” shared.Padilla’s almost two-decade marriage to Sicangco led to a divorce in 2010. They have four children, namely, Kylie, Queenie, Zhen-zhen and Ali.Meaningful diversionAs Padilla tries to prepare himself for the eventuality that he may not be able to be with his wife for the birth of Isabella—and two more months or so afterward—he is planning to devote his time on a meaning diversion via his advocacies.Discussing his latest collaboration with MoneyGram—a global money transfer and payment services company—Padilla described the Black Pencil Project as an independent civilian volunteer organization that assists select schools from far-flung area in the country.A component of the project is the “School-in-A-Box Program,” which in turn will provide complete study packs, teacher’s kits and relevant learning resource materials for marginalized children from indigenous communities.“I truly believe in education as an advocacy. I highly encourage the local government to put in extra efforts in education. That’s because, I believe we are experiencing all these problems in our country because we lack a concrete educational system. Our neighboring progressive countries had left us behind,” he firmly stated.
