Tinseltown’s most enduring couples: Robert Arevalo and Barbara Perez

Robert Arevalo (left) and Barbara Perez

(Editor’s Note: To celebrate the Valentine month, Inquirer Entertainment is running this series about celebrity couples and the reasons behind their lasting unions.)

(Conclusion)

For Robert Arevalo, it helped that, while raising their family, one of them opted to lie low from work—in their case, it was his wife Barbara Perez.

Robert and Barbara call each other “dahling,” even with raised voices, the actor quipped.

“Now in our senior years, I am more protective of her,” he declared. “Other than this, we aren’t very showy (to each other).”

Robert and Barbara have been married for over 55 years. Robert said the fact that they’re both in show biz did not present as many problems, “other than the late hours and constant traveling to film locations.”

It also helped that while their children—Anna, Gina and Christian—were growing up, Barbara retired temporarily and did not accept assignments. “I was getting enough work and provided well for the family,” he pointed out, adding that he also dabbled in advertising during those years.

Barbara said her cousin, George Sison, introduced them to each other “without any intention of being a matchmaker. We found each other quite interesting, but it was not love at first sight.” They became romantically involved after a few months.

In 1961, after acting in the Hollywood-produced film “No Man Is An Island,” Barbara participated in the Seattle’s World Fair as a Karilagan model. “He said he missed me so much that he proposed marriage when he met me at the airport after a month’s absence,” she recalled. They tied the knot a few weeks later in Baguio City.

“Our marriage lasted this long because of our commitment to family and to our marriage vows,” declared Barbara. “The sacrament of matrimony brings with it abundant graces to hurdle occasional difficulties,” the actor said.