Janine Gutierrez became an actress to help her yaya who had cancer, promises to buy her a house
MANILA, Philippines — Actress Janine Gutierrez revealed that her showbiz origins stem from her willingness to help her Yaya Pat Espera who has been taking care of her since Janine was an infant.
Janine appeared on the morning show "Magadang Buhay" last month and was invited by hosts Regine Velasquez-Alcasid and Melai Cantiveros-Francisco to cook for them. The actress was then surprised to see that her Yaya Pat joined them for the segment.
The actress shared that Yaya Pat been with the family even before she was born, "Hindi pa ako pinapanganak, siya na 'yung yaya ko. So talagang 'second mommy' ko si Yaya," as she wiped away some tears.
She also said that Yaya Pat would help her do homework back when she was studying and would gift her dictionaries, and then revealed how much of an impact Yaya Pat was to her acting career.
"Actually mahiyain talaga ako, hindi ko naman inisip na mag-artista, pero noong college ako si Yaya nagkasakit at parang 'di ako makatulong," Janine shared. "So sabi ko kay Mom, 'Ma, gusto ko na mag-artista para may panggamot si Yaya.'"
Yaya Pat recalled the time she was diagnosed with breast cancer and she was only brought to tears thinking of Janine and her younger siblings Jessica, Diego and Maxine, worried that they might behave or grow up the same way if someone else looked after them.
Yaya Pat teased Janine about appearing in a commercial together so that the former could get her own house which she had long been wanting. Later in the show, Janine admitted that she she was still working on getting enough money to buy Yaya Pat her own house.
Janine — a member of the popular Gutierrez clan — finished her basic education at St. Paul's College - Pasig and graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University with a European Studies degree before fully becoming entering the entertainment industry.
She currently stars on "Dirty Linen" alongside Zanjoe Marudo, Francine Diaz, and Seth Fedelin, with the show just entered its second season this May. — Video from the YouTube channel of ABS-CBN Talk
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