Photo: Sen. Bong Revilla Jr. Facebook

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Bong Revilla believes that raising children is a responsibility that no one should abandon or be ashamed about. Living true to this, the actor owned up to all the children he had even outside of marriage to actress Lani Mercado.

He also made sure his wife, Mercado, Cavite 2nd District congresswoman, knew about all of these children. 

“Alam ni Lani iyon kung ano yung totoo,” Revilla said during the press conference for the third season of his sitcom “Tolome: Walang Matigas na Pulis sa Matinik na Misis,” last Saturday (December 14). 

“Meron, meron [akong anak sa labas]… at makikilala niyo rin kung sino sila,” The senator said he is not ashamed of having these children. 

“Hindi mo naman pupuwedeng itago iyan. Unfair iyon para sa mga bata. Pagka anak mo, aakuin mo, dugo mo iyan… at hindi ko ikinahihiya iyan,” he said. 

Revilla had an affair with non-showbiz former girlfriend Lovely Guzman with whom they shared a son, now actor Luigi Revilla. 

In a previous interview, Mercado opened up about the pain she endured when Revilla had another child with another woman. 

She recalled first hearing rumors about her husband’s affair with another woman but it was only in 1998 when her mother-in-law died that she finally saw Luigi in person.  

Mercado readily accepted the child, she said. 

She, her two sons Jolo and Brian and Luigi even had a guest appearance altogether in ABS-CBN’s “Magandang Buhay.”

Back in 2007, Revilla even added legal protection to illegitimate children when he authored Republic Act No. 9858 or the Act Providing for the Legitimation of Children Born to Parents Below Marrying Age. 

His father, the late Sen. Ramon Revilla Sr., was famous for having 72 children. As a senator, his legacy is the authorship of Republic Act 9255, otherwise known as the “Revilla Law,” which states that illegitimate children may use the surname of their father if expressly recognized by the father in birth records or through documentary admission.