How Rochelle, Tonton and Dianne blur gender roles in family chores

Rochelle Pangilinan

Rochelle Pangilinan, Tonton Gutierrez and Dianne dela Fuente don’t follow traditional gender roles in their respective marriages. For these actors, it’s all about shared responsibilities.

“My husband and I do our tasks depending on who’s available,” Rochelle, who’s married to Arthur Solinap, told the Inquirer in a virtual conference for the new GMA 7 series “False Positive.” “Taking care of our child (Shiloh), bathing her … cooking and doing the laundry—Arthur doesn’t see them as jobs only for women.”

“We don’t have house help, so whatever we can do in our free time, we do it,” the dancer-actress added.

Now that they’re both busy with work, Tonton takes turns with his wife, Glydel Mercado, in looking after their daughters, Aneeza and Aneeka. “We both have our own locked-in tapings. So, when she’s in a taping bubble, I take care of the kids, and vice versa,” he related.

“In terms of responsibilities, we do them equally. We don’t think like, ‘You should do this, you should do that.’ Whoever has the time and capability does whatever needs to be done,” Tonton said.

Dianne, who has two teenage kids with her husband, businessman Ian Tiongson, stressed that marriage is a “joint responsibility.” “Just because I’m the mother doesn’t mean I should only be doing this … or that the father should only do something else. One of the reasons we have been together for 19 years now is that we share and compromise,” she said.

Dianne dela Fuente

“We don’t stereotype roles in the family. If I’m working outside, he stays home and vice versa. There are no specific assignments,” she said. “What’s important is that we have a strong partnership when it comes to raising our kids. We’re committed to our family. That’s our dynamic.”

The three play supporting roles in “False Positive,” which is headlined by Xian Lim and Glaiza de Castro. The plot revolves around a man who magically ends up being pregnant, so he can finally empathize with women and understand the hardships and quirks women experience during pregnancy.

Speaking of quirks, Rochelle and Dianne couldn’t help but reminisce about the silly annoyances and cravings they used to get.

“Art gave me everything that I wanted. My cravings aren’t really for the food; I just want him to buy them for me. If it’s someone else, I end up changing my mind. Akala niya pinagti-tripan ko siya. One time, I was craving for ‘siopao.’ But someone else bought it—and from Iloilo, at that. So I didn’t want it anymore,” recalled Rochelle, who’s praying for a new baby.

Dianne realized she was pregnant while doing live gigs around the country. “It was in the early 2000s and my career as a singer was just peaking. I was doing shows in Bohol and Bicol … and had no idea I was pregnant. I only realized that something was up when we had a meal at a crab restaurant. The smell made me feel like puking,” she related.

Tonton Gutierrez

Tonton, meanwhile, remembered scouring Metro Manila for “santol,” which Glydel was craving for in one of her pregnancies.

‘There was a time when she was bugging me for santol. The issue was, it wasn’t in season. I checked every fruit stand I could find … Makati, Quezon City, etc. But I couldn’t find any. The search lasted for a week. And then, I bumped into (comedian) Pekto. We had a chat and told me his ‘lola’ had a santol tree at home in Fairview,” the recalled.

“I told him, ‘Can I have some? I will go wherever that is,’” Tonton said. “But when I got home, Glydel was like, “Oh, I don’t like it anymore!” INQ