Leon Barretto replies to Dennis Padilla's birthday greeting on Instagram
After countless unnoticed posts for his estranged children, Dennis Padilla finally received a response from his son Leon Barretto when he greeted the latter a happy birthday.
On Tuesday, April 2, the comedian posted a photo of him showing a letter to Leon that reads, "Dear Leon Marcux, happy b-day, anak. God bless you more! We love you." He also included a throwback snap of them when Leon was still a kid. In the caption of his post, he wrote he's hoping he could see him again soon.
Leon, in the comments section, responded to Dennis' greeting. "Thank you Papa," he wrote, adding smiling and praying emojis.
This comes over a month after Dennis revealed that he got a birthday greeting from his estranged daughter Julia when he turned 62 last Feb. 9. "Nung birthday ko, nagulat din ako dahil gabi na nung na-receive ko 'yung text. Nung una nga, sabi ko, 'number pa pala niya ito,'" Dennis said. "Nag-text lang siya, may short message siya roon tapos sumagot ako tapos mayroon din akong short message. Ang sinagot niya sa’kin ay icon ng heart, so ang sinagot ko ay heart din."
"Actually, hindi ko alam, bigla na lang tumulo ang luha ko," he continued.
At the time, he also expressed his hope that his two other children Leon and Claudia would reach out to him, too.
Dennis' relationship with his children became strained following his separation with Marjorie Barretto in 2007. While Julia reached out for reconciliation in 2021, she expressed in a 2023 interview with Karen Davila that healing and forgiveness are ongoing processes, and she wasn't ready for such then.
Their relationship got even more complicated when he aired his disappointment over Julia’s statements. He has since been constantly reaching out to his estranged children by posting his greetings during their birthdays and on special occasions like Christmas and New Year on social media.