“Talagang parang naging isang buong pamilya na kami,” he says. “From my wife and kids sa show kasama na sina Tita Celia Rodriguez and her assistants sa haunted house.”
He’s turning 40 on July 20 but he looks much younger than his age because of his boyish good looks. We remember him as a teener introduced in Viva youth films like “Estudyante Blues”, “Wooly Booly”, “Tootsie Wootsie” and “Teacher’s Enemy No. 1” in 1989-90. July 20 also happens to be the birthday of Claudine Barretto, his estranged wife, who’s turning 34, but no matter how hard you try to make Raymart talk about their rumored marital rift, he’d rather keep his mouth shut and won’t even confirm if it’s true that he now lives on his own in a condo.
He’d rather talk about his career with GMA-7. “Since I did the sitcom ‘Kool Ka Lang’ with them, tuloy-tuloy ang trabaho ko sa kanila, but I don’t have any contract at all. Pero pagkatapos nitong ‘Home Sweet Home’, yung next project, magkaka-contract na raw, just to formalize everything. Wala naman akong balak umalis ng GMA kasi happy akong maging Kapuso. Gusto ko, my next project will be another one na pampamilya gaya ng mga ginawa ko na rito before like ‘Bantatay’ and ‘Fubolilits’, para puede ring panoorin pati ng mga anak ko.”
Their son Santino will also have his 6th birthday on July 19. Will the three of them have a joint birthday celebration? “Iniisip pa. Pero naku, sa amin na lang yun.”
How’s his life now? “Okay naman. It could be better, pero basta okay ako. Basta kung anuman yung nangyayari sa life ko, di ko dinadala sa trabaho. Mag-focus na lang kasi tayo sa ‘Home Sweet Home’. Mas nagiging exciting ang bawat episode habang patapos na ito. Matutuklasan ko na ang maitim na balak ni Gladys Reyes na patayin ang ama kong si Ernie Zarate pagkatapos niyang alilain at pakulong ang misis kong si Roxanne Guinoo. Mababalik naman ang dating kaanyuan ni Bea Binene as Lucy. Sa tulong mahiwagang lampara, hindi na siya magiging kuba, pero ayaw pa rin siyang lubayan ng Fake Lucy na gustong makuha si Jake Vargas as Benjie. Marami pang surprising twists kaya huwag kayong bibitaw.”
