'We Were Young Too': Lotlot Recalls Early Marriage To Monching On Janine's Birthday

Lotlot de Leon took to Instagram not just once but twice to wish her daughter Janine Gutierrez a happy 33rd birthday on October 2, 2022.

In Lotlot's first post, there are five old photos, starting with the one showing her carrying the infant Janine while her then-husband and Janine's father Ramon Christopher "Monching" Gutierrez standing beside them.

The rest of the photo collection showcases Janine's bright smile either as a baby or a toddler, just like in Lotlot's second birthday post for her daughter.

Lotlot wrote this caption: "We really didn’t know what we were doing, we were young too..but I really hope we did right by you..   that smile of yours from day one was the one that kept us being the best we could be for you..I love you hon..  Happy birthday my baby girl!"

The first part of Lotlot's caption pertains to her and Monching's early marriage. They had their civil wedding at Club Filipino, a social club venue in Greenhills, on March 27, 1989.

At that time, Lotlot and Monching were two of the hosts in that era's popular youth-oriented variety-musical program, That’s Entertainment. It was founded and funded by comedian and TV host German Moreno (now deceased) as a venue for aspiring movie stars.

They also comprised one of the hottest love teams, so their fans were happy to see them end up with each other in real life. But after 13 years and four kids—Janine, Jessica, Diego, and Maxine—the couple parted ways.

In 2008, a Quezon City court declared the 1989 marriage of Lotlot and Monching null and void because Lotlot was, at 17, underage at the time of marriage. The Family Code of the Philippines has prescribed 18 years old as the marrying age.

Read also: Difference Between Annulment, Legal Separation, and Divorce

Janine on dealing with parents' separation

Janine was 13 when her parents separated. She looked back on that critical time in the October 2016 issue of YES! Magazine, with her as the cover star. She said she never thought of rebelling against her parents to show her disdain for the situation.

Instead, she found her own way of coping. “’Yong motivation ko no’n was to do good in school,” she pointed out. “Para okey lang kami ng mga kapatid ko. Kasi parang nakita ko na ’yong mga nagrerebelde, hindi rin naman napupunta sa maganda.

"E, resolution ko no’n na pag ako nagkapamilya, dapat okey kami, dapat kumportable kami, dapat kami na forever. ’Yong gano’n. Kasi, if something bad happens to you, di ba, parang you get to choose if you want to do it the right way or magmumukmok ka lang.”

Janine made it clear, too, that she didn’t take their family’s breakdown against her parents, but she sure felt bad about it. “I think sumama ang loob ko for a long time siguro sa situation.”

She noted the many times her family had previously appeared as guests in talk shows such as Mel & Jay and in showbiz programs such as The Buzz. “Parang parating sinasabi na sila ’yong exception, kasi kahit bata nagpakasal, sila pa rin. Or parang ’yong love team na nagtagal talaga. So parang akala ko, forever na ’yon.

"And so, when they broke up, siyempre, sobrang ano kaming magkakapatid, kasi sobrang saya ng childhood namin talaga. ’Yon nga, nagsu-Subic palagi. Basta, super close lang ng family, kasi nga, bata nga ’yong dalawa [her parents]. Parang kulitan lang sila.”

It didn’t help that Lotlot and Monching’s separation made headline news that people everywhere talked about.

Their panganay couldn' forget this incident: "There was a time nasa bahay ako, ’yong kotse ng news [crew] na parang pickup na may takip sa likod, meron no’n sa labas ng bahay, ’ta’s may reporter na bumaba, ’ta’s gustong kausapin no’n si Papa tungkol nga sa hiwalayan nila.”

In her school, Janine felt the concern of her teachers, but that only made her uncomfortable. “Susulatan ako ng mga teacher na parang ‘Janine, kaya mo ’yan.’ As in! ’Ta’s ako, parang ‘Wala naman akong tinatanong.’ My gosh! Hahaha! Pati ’yong principal, kinausap ako. Parang ako, hindi lang ako nagsasalita. Kasi, if there’s anything I learned from my mom…"

Janine said of Lotlot, “Si Mama, kahit na ang daming parang nagsasabi ng masama tungkol sa kanya or may mga issue, never siyang sumasagot. So ’yon din ’yong pinaka-natutunan ko sa kanya dito sa showbiz na parang, di ba, she’s always been so classy na sa kahit anong issue, tahimik lang siya.

“At sa tingin ko, ibang klaseng strength din ’yon na hindi mo kailangang i-defend ’yong sarili mo, na parang you should let your character stand for itself… Minsan kasi, parang pag nagsalita ka pa, maaano ka pa, matu-twist pa ’yong sasabihin mo, or lálakí pa ’yong issue.”

But that bad side of the business is not enough to turn Janine off from what she wants to do in life.

She explained, “Kailangan lang talaga, focus on the good ’tsaka dedma sa nega… Kasi mahirap din, di ba, sometimes, pag madami kang basher, ’ta’s palaging masama ’yong sinasabi nila tungkol sa ’yo, pag palagi mong nakikita, parang napapaisip ka na din. ‘Totoo ba? Tama ba sila?’ So, dapat pala, i-block-out mo na sila completely.”

Today, Janine is happy that her parents fullfilled their promise for them, along with her siblings, to remain a family. Everybody also gets along with Lotlot's current husband Fadi El Soury.

Read also: How To Prevent Separation From Ruining Your Kids’ Happy Memories