Rica Peralejo opened up about the major change that happened in her life as a parent to her 11-year-old son, Philip. In an interview with Luis Manzano in his YouTube vlog, the actress shared that her son started going to regular school after being homeschooled for years.
Reflecting on this change, Rica admitted to Luis that it has been challenging for her. "No one can prepare you talaga for that changes of your child eh... Abangan mo 'yung kapag hindi ka na nila world. Nakaka-stress talaga 'yan," she said. "There will come a time and they need it, they really need it. They need to have friends and they need to have a world that is outside of you... that was actually my year this year. This is 2025 for me.”
Rica added that it was this year when Philip asked if he could attend a regular school. "My son — so ilang years kami din since he was five, I was homeschooling him — he expressed to me this year: 'I don't want to be homeschooled anymore.”
Rica highlighted that this is something that, as a parent, she needs to accept, though she confessed that it hurt in the beginning. "Iyon 'yung isang kailangan nating matanggap as parents na... that's really a part of life. And if anything naman ang masasabi ko of being there right now, in the beginning, it really hurt. Like every time I would go through our homeschooling materials — nililigpit ko eh — umiiyak talaga ako. Hindi ko lang pinapakita kasi parang feeling ko na ang sakit-sakit na isang buong buhay mo ang ibinigay mo for this, and one day, it's like, ‘I don't want it.’ So parang okay, where does that leave me?"
Coincidentally, as she embraced this new season as a parent, new doors also opened for her. "And then you know what, that's the funny thing, ito rin 'yung season na biglang nag-open ulit 'yung maraming doors sa buhay ko. And it feels like I'm in a second wind of life. And in my 40s, it’s like I feel like I am finding myself again. A lot of who I was before and a lot of who I'm still becoming, iyon 'yung nakita ko sa taon na 'to," she remarked.
One of the doors that opened for Rica recently was the chance of returning to acting. She is set to star in the Metro Manila Film Festival entry Manila's Finest.
In an interview on Gud Morning Kapatid, Rica opened up about her experience returning to acting. "It's good. I think sabi ko nga parang siyang when you learn how to ride a bike: you might be a little rusty when you come back to it, but you always know it na. Ganun 'yung feeling ko sa pag-acting," she pointed out.
She admitted that she realized how much she missed acting on her very first day on set. "I think the first day of shoot, nung nakita ko ‘yung preview sa screen, sabi ko, 'Oh my gosh I missed this.' 'Yung parang it's not really just about me eh. It's more of like the whole thing, like seeing the magic of film parang coming together," she relayed.
When asked what made her say yes to the movie, Rica replied: "One, it's period kasi it's been my desire talaga that if I am going to work again, I want it to be something really meaningful and also sana okay din 'yung period. And it's very light, it's not naman super heavy from my end. I'm not really a major character in this film, so it is really great lang to be reintroduced into the whole thing. Para hindi naman ako mabigla, kasi more than 11 years of not being there din naman 'yun eh."
She also credited her co-star Piolo Pascual as one of the reasons she accepted the project. "Also the people that I'm working with. One is like when I heard that it's Piolo. Piolo kasi chooses really good films eh so parang meron akong tiwala na okay, it is gonna be a good project.”