A girl named Leia for Paolo & Sam

Amidst rumors about a marriage in the family breaking up come the glad tidings that a bubbly little bundle is coming up.

Married thrice for barely two years (first in Las Vegas on Oct. 13, 2014, then in Tagaytay on March 27, 2015, and then in Boracay four days alter), Gabriel “Gab” Valenciano and Tricia Centenera have split up effective last July 31 when Tricia showed Gab the door when, according to Funfare sources, she suspected that Gab was “playing around” with four different women, one of them reportedly Cosplay star Alodia Gosiengfiao (see story below).

In contrast, Gab’s Kuya Paolo has been happily married to Samantha “Sam” Godinez since their wedding on Feb. 7, 2013, at the Manila Polo Club, and the couple is expecting their first child, a girl, either last week of October or first week of November. At the baby shower hosted by Aprica last Sept. 10 at the Le Jardin Manila restaurant at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Sam announced that their daughter would be named Nathaleia Martine, Leia for short.

Aprica (a Japanese brand of strollers) was also behind the baby shower in honor of James Yap’s Michela Cazzola who gave birth to a boy named Michael James two months later. Aprica also hosted last Aug. 13 a three-in-one event for Robin Padilla and Mariel Rodriguez Padilla, in celebration of her 32nd birthday, their sixth wedding anniversary, and their announcement of their forthcoming baby’s gender (a girl due in November in New York).

Friends said that Paolo already knows what his parenting style will be. “He will bring up Leia exactly how he was reared by his parents, Gary Valenciano and Angeli Pangilinan-Valenciano who have another child, Kiana,” said a family friend.

Tricia was among the guests at the baby shower along with, among others, new mom Iya Villania (who gave birth to her and husband Drew Arellano’s first child last Aug. 31), Nikki Gil (married to BJ Albert), KC Concepcion (the Valenciano siblings’ cousin), Gretchen Fullido, Sam’s sister Alex Godinez and Antoinette Taus. “You know, we try not to get involved with the problems of Gab and Tricia,” Paolo told the media covering the event. “From our end naman, we want to be supportive also kay Tricia because she’s here without her family. Her whole family is in Australia. Whatever happens to the two of them, we made it clear to Tricia that we’ll be here for her. Sam and I are gonna be there to support them. Whatever Gab decides or whatever they both decide, we’ll be there for the two of them. But Tricia is definitely family na. She’s ninang.”

Mum about the break-up, all that Tricia would say was, “Paolo, Sam, Kiana, Mama (Angeli) and Papa (Gary), they’ll always be my family. You know, Gab and I will be what we will be. I’d rather not comment. Today is about Leia. Today is about Paolo and Sam, you know. They’re bringing this gorgeous girl in the world. I’d rather not talk about that at all. We’ll deal with that within the family.”

Indeed, family values matter to Paolo, and he’s learned that from his dad.

“Our relationship, our bond is very important,” he pointed out. “So growing up, it was very easy for me to talk to my parents, especially my dad. He’d probably spanked me twice in my life. Even though I knew he didn’t want to do it, it made us feel na he was on our side.

“And even though we would make mistakes and he would get mad at us,” he continued, speaking on behalf of his siblings, “you know, we would get scared when he would really get mad because we knew that this was the guy who’s always on our side. So when he would get mad, then we would realize, ‘Oh, my goodness! I really did something wrong.’”

Paolo clarified, though, that he and his dad have not really sat down and do the whole father-and-son talk on parenting.

“He hasn’t given me tips on how to be a parent,” added Paolo. “But I’ve observed him how he is to us, and his (parenting) technique with me and my siblings is talagang he was the one who always listens. When my mom would scold us or would get mad, and all that, it was easy to communicate with my dad because even when he was the one who would spank us when we were younger, we always knew na if we had a problem, if there was anything wrong, we could always run to him.

“And I think that’s the kind of relationship that I wanna have with my daughter,” the excited dad-to-be proudly declared.

When Paolo was born, Gary was only 19. Paolo will turn 32 on Oct. 12, and he may have become a father by that time. So maybe he’s a lot more prepared for fatherhood than his dad had been?

“I want to believe that I’m prepared,” he replied with a big grin. “But everybody keeps telling me, ‘You’ll never get prepared. There are so many things that will happen. You’ll learn while it’s happening.’ And I think that I’m very excited. I’m more excited than nervous.”

Paolo is just worried that he may not be with Sam’s side in the delivery room because he has shows to direct in October, one of those is the two-night concert comeback of Megastar Sharon Cuneta on Oct. 15 and 22 at The Theatre at Solaire Resort & Casino in Pasay City.

In the past, Paolo has directed concerts of Gary V (the latest was Gary V Presents at Kia Theater last July 15 and 16, Sarah Geronimo (From the Top at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Dec. 4 and 5, 2015) and Toni Gonzaga (Celestine at the SM Mall of Asia on Oct. 3, 2014).

And when Gary becomes a grandfather, his musical rival and real-life friend Martin Nievera will have an apo sa pamangkin because Paolo’s wife Samantha is the daughter of Martin’s sister Gina Tabuena-Godinez. But, no, the choice of Paolo and Sam’s second name for their daughter is not entirely because of the couple’s Tito Martin. Paolo’s full name is Juan Paolo Martin, and Sam just likes the name Martine. Nathaleia, on the other hand, is inspired by the Princess Leia character in the Star Wars movie franchise, which Paolo is a big fan of.

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