Dennis Padilla posts handwritten greeting to estranged daughter Julia Barretto on her 26th birthday
After all that's been said and done, Dennis Padilla once again took to social media to express his well wishes to his estranged daughter Julia Barretto.
On March 8, two days ahead of the actress' birthday, Dennis shared a photo of his personally-made birthday greeting card with handwritten greetings and an old photo of him and Julia.
“Dearest Juy... Happiiii 26th bday... Praying for more blessings... Labyu anak,” he wrote in his caption. He also shared a now-deleted birthday video for the actress.
Netizens were touched by Dennis’ greetings, wishing for them to mend the rift that continue to increase over time since his split with Julia's mother, Marjorie, back in 2007.
One user wrote, "Kaiyak naman this", while the other one wrote, "Ang pagmamahal tlga ng Magulang sa anak i unconditionally..mbuti po pagpapalaki sanyo ng mgulang nyo sir dennis."
"Wag kang magsawa sa pagpapakumbaba.. darating ang takdang panahon . Ganyan tayong mga magulang . Hindi nagsasawa," another user said.
On the other hand, one user commented that he should have sent his greeting to Julia in private: "Kung pm mo nalang yan direct kay julia para pag di cya mag reply di cya ma bash."
In June 2022, the actor shared Instagram posts expressing his dismay over his children Julia, Claudia, and Leon for not greeting him on Fahter's Day. His youngest, Leon responded with a lengthy letter on the same online platform, revealing how they have been trying to “slowly rebuild the bridge” that Dennis “continuously burn” when he talks about their family in interviews and in his cryptic posts on social media.
This was seconded by Julia who shared in a September interview with journalist Karen Davila that she is still not ready for to forgive her father, noting how she's been going through a cycle of pain.
"But forgiveness, of course, that's for my own peace of mind 'di ba. Hindi ko ipagkakait ang forgiveness," she said. "There's just been so much pain since I was young so parang I got tired of the same thing."
Dennis’ relationship with her children got even more complicated when he aired his disappointment with Julia’s statements.
Despite this, Dennis has been consistently reaching out to his estranged children by posting his greetings during their birthdays and on special occasions like Christmas and New Year.