MANILA — Richard Gutierrez will soon appear again on ABS-CBN’s primetime block with “Blood vs Duty,” alongside Gerald Anderson.
The two Kapamilya actors have been heavily locked in taping for the series since last month, and according to Richard, they’ve shot a lot of scenes and sequences already.
A short clip teaser of “Blood vs Duty” was released Wednesday night, and Richard can’t contain his excitement to show more from the teaser. “I’m so excited, marami pa kaming mga eksena, gusto ko ngang ipakita doon sa teaser, I’m so excited to show people what we’ve done. Pero so far, teaser muna.”
He added, “We’ve done a lot of taping days already, we’ve done a lot of work. Marami na kaming sleepless nights, marami na kaming action scenes na ginawa. Ilang beses na rin akong nagpamasahe dahil sa sakit ng katawan ko sa taping. But more than anything, nakikita namin yung ginawa namin so at the end of the day, we’ve done something good.”
But despite the busy taping schedule, Richard would allot time for his kids—Zion and Kai.
“Yung kids ko, they have a lot of activities. I tried to line up activities for them. They’re into sports—basketball. Recently, nagstart na sila ng boxing. I tried to get them into martial arts as well. I also want them to focus on their academics. I try to mix and match with them, but obviously they’re kids so they want their ipads. May iPad time naman sila.”
Richard Gutierrez, Sarah Lahbati share birthday messages for son Zion
So how’s the co-parenting setup with his ex, Sarah Lahbati, working for him and the kids?
“Okay naman, we have equal time with the kids. So far, everything is okay naman.”
Richard was recently launched as the newest and first ambassador of a gaming app. The actor isn’t the first among many celebrities who endorsed these gaming apps. And these endorsers have received flak and criticisms from the public for endorsing and encouraging people to gamble and play.
We sought for Richard’s two cents on this, and he said: “You’re right. This is a very controversial thing right now. I listened to them (gaming app operator). I really wanted to listen to their mission and their goals. And I was very surprised with the committment that they have sa responsible gaming. That’s what they really want to push here and to keep everything balanced.”
Addiction to gambling is a serious mental problem and Richard made sure that his role will tilt more on being responsible while playing.
“I hear stories about it, so it’s very important to remind people that we cannot stop this platform. The platform will always be there... I think what’s important here is spreading the message and creating awareness to enjoy, have fun, but be responsible din.”