Leo Martinez, Cherie Gil and his wife Gina Valenciano. Image: screengrab from YouTube/Snooky Serna, Instagram/@ginavalenciano
Over a year after Cherie Gil’s death, Leo Martinez—the father of her eldest child Jay Eigenmann—spoke about the late veteran actress and reminisced about her friendship with his wife, Gina Valenciano.
The veteran actor-comedian opened up about his family during a conversation with Snooky Serna and Gina Pareño, as seen on Serna’s YouTube vlog last Saturday, Jan 6.
The topic was brought up after Serna showed throwback photos of Martinez and Pareño, and asked them to explain the story behind those.
One of the first few photos shown by Serna was a black-and-white picture of Martinez and Valenciano with their firstborn Leslie.
“1988 iyan dahil iyan ang first baby namin ni Gina, si Leslie, who is the mother of my apo,” the actor said, adding that he and Valenciano have kept their marriage for 36 long years because of their respect for each other.
Serna then flashed a photo of Martinez with his six children, which led the actor to talk about a common question he gets about fatherhood. “Whenever they ask me, ‘Ilan ang anak mo?’ ang sagot ko, ‘Two, one, three.'”
Explaining his response, Martinez continued, “Two sa una; one kay Cherie; and three kay Gina. Up to now, they’re seeing each other in the States.”
Martinez then credited the tight bond of his children to Gil and Valenciano. “Kasi when she was alive, Cherie and Gina were best of friends.”
Gil, known as Philippine show biz’s “La Primera Contravida,” died in August 2022 after a battle with endometrial cancer.