A mother to the motherless

MANILA, Philippines - Claudine Barretto is not just a biological mom (to Santino). She’s also been a foster mother many times over. This happened when she and husband Raymart Santiago adopted as many as 12 babies from the orphanage for eight months.

“We are licensed to adopt,” reveals Claudine.

So they took babies under their wing in their Quezon City home from January to September last year, paid the salaries of their nurses and nannies, spent for their diapers and infant formula.

It’s expensive, admits Claudine. But just thinking about giving a baby an unknown mother left in the church doorstep a temporary home is gratifying enough. Claudine even wants to take her advocacy to the next level by opening an orphanage.

“I long for the day when being an adopted child will no longer be a stigma in our society,” says Claudine.

Sabina and Santino are so used to having infants at home, they would tell their parents they just want to `borrow’ a baby whenever Mom or Dad would bring up the idea of having another brother or sister.

Now, Santino and Sabina must get used to not seeing their mom at home as often as they did in the one year and three months she has been out of showbiz.

Claudine is back in the limelight, after she signed a contract with GMA 7.

 “I grew tired of waiting at one point,” she admits. “After not working for so long, parang nabobobo ka. It was as if I can’t memorize scripts again. I used to be excited (about a comeback). Then, that excitement faded because I have been waiting so long.”

But now that she’s back to work, the sparkle in her eyes is back; the lilt in her voice unmistakable.

Her new home studio has laid down the red carpet to welcome her. In fact, GMA 7 even called for a pocket interview during Day One of her taping for Claudine, a new series to premiere Sunday, March 28.

“It’s a totally different environment,” she says. “But I’m happy. I will work with directors and stars I haven’t worked with.”

She has worked with Laurice Guillen as her co-star in Iisa Pa Lamang. But it’s Claudine’s first time to work with the director as captain of the ship.

“I had a workshop with Direk once,” recalls Claudine.

So Claudine knows what to expect from her director.

“Direk is fast and meticulous. She’s very exact and knows just where to train the cameras,” observes Claudine.

She is making up for the time she was out of showbiz circulation.

 She’ll leave for the US next month to shoot In Your Eyes with Richard Gutierrez for GMA Films. She looks forward to coveing all types of genre — drama, horror, fantasy, etc. — for her new series.

Finally, Claudine need not feel time is passing her by again, at least not in the next few years. Now, she can dream again about stars she wants to work with for the first time, like Iza Calzado, Marian Rivera, Glaiza de Castro, Jolina Magdangal, Marvin Agustin, Dennis Trillo, Dingdong Dantes.

Most of all, Claudine is happy her new anthology is giving fellow artists on and off cam much-needed work. Yes, the long wait is worth it.