Glimpses of Marjorie and Dennis in happier times resurface

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AFTER their separate vlog interviews with Ogie Diaz, social media was awash with throwback videos of Marjorie Barretto and Dennis Padilla during their happier times.

This was shortly after their daughter Claudia's much-ballyhooed wedding to long-time boyfriend Basti Lorenzo.

Marjorie Barretto PHOTO FROM INSTAGRAM/MARJBARRETTO

One of these old videos was lifted from Marjorie and Dennis' guesting on the now-defunct late morning show on GMA, "Sis" — hosted by sisters Janice and Gelli de Belen.

With the then-young couple were Claudia and Julia (Leon wasn't obviously born yet) who silently played around, totally impervious to their parents' "revelation moments."

The interview which seemed to have eaten up the entire episode dwelt on how love blossomed between Marjorie, then 18 and Dennis, already in his late 20s.

Dennis Padilla PHOTO FROM IMDB

It was actually Dennis who did all the talking while Marj would stop him from churning out a pack of lies the comic way: "Sinungaling ka (You're lying)!"

A typical male chauvinist, Dennis reminisced: "I was at an event where she showed up. I noticed she had her gooey-gooey eyes fixed on me, she was staring at me from head to toe. That's when I realized she liked me!"

Marj simply let Dennis spew more never-before-told secrets.

The comedian's narrative then meandered on their first date. Dennis volunteered to bring Marjorie home by car all the way from Quezon City to Parañaque. To spice up the long trip, Dennis hatched an uncanny yet effective way of hitting on Marj, to which the latter gamely agreed.

That is — for every stop sign up ahead, both would kiss each other as passionately as they ever could.

"Ang ginagawa ko, binabagalan ko ang pagpapatakbo ng sasakyan para eksaktong stop. Binilang ko kung ilang beses nag-stop, siguro, mga 20 (I would slow down on driving so I'd step on the brakes! I counted how many times I stopped, they were around 20)!"

Dennis recalls Marjorie's mom Inday having called his attention — asking if he was sure about his feelings for her daughter.

In a resurfaced video, the former couple shared their love story with ‘Sis’ hosts Janice and Gelli de Belen while their kids played in the background. YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT/GMA NETWORK

His without-batting-an-eyelash affirmative, straightforward reply led to what he and Marj would later inevitably be — as a married couple.

At one point in their connubial life, Dennis gave local politics a shot. This was apart from taking on showbiz assignments.

As alderman of Caloocan City, his family had become a bit too demanding of his time. Dennis, however, didn't let his work as city councilor snatch his time away from his loved ones.

Consistently without fail, Dennis would always shut his cellphone off whenever he took time off on vacation with Marj and the kids — even if those calls were in line of his duty.

"I think there was once when Dennis had to pick up an urgent call," Marjorie bared, "That time, we were all in the pool...did you know that my kids were chanting in unison? 'Quality time! Quality time! Quality time!' In fairness to Dennis, he politely hung up on the person on the other end."

With these bits and pieces all told, I can't help but reference Marjorie's "sinungaling ka!" knee-jerk reaction on their "Sis" guesting.

If it does sound familiar, it's exactly the same accusation that Marjorie had made to disprove Dennis' assertion in Ogie's interview.

From a third party point of view, this is also what majority of the netizens adhere to.

Truth be told, Dennis had been this writer's acquaintance even before his showbiz entry. Therefore, my leanings must be toward to him more.

But I must also say that Marjorie's oral argument — based on the Ogie interview — is supported by pictures, even videos, to prove she's telling the truth.