Tonton Gutierrez and Baby Aneeka (inset; photo used with permission)

MANILA, Philippines – “Glamorosa” star Tonton Gutierrez and wife actress Glydel Mercado welcomed their second daughter, Aneeka Marie, on Nov. 26.

“She is named after the golfer Annika Sörenstram,” Tonton tells Bulletin Entertainment in an exclusive interview, adding, “Well, my wife plays golf, I play golf… we love the sport.”

7.6 lbs. Baby Aneeka, the couple’s second baby, followed first daughter, Aneesa, after seven years—and seven hours of labor. And with a new baby in the household, Tonton notes that any plans they might have for Christmas would have to wait.

“We definitely won’t be able to travel or take a vacation. So, wala lang, probably we’ll just be here in Manila, taking care of the new baby.”

It’s the job

Father duties aside, Tonton is currently seen in the TV5 soap, “Glamorosa,” along with Lorna Tolentino.

Of his long-time chosen profession, he says, “It’s my job, it’s work… it feeds my family. But I enjoy doing it, of course—and that’s very important. Kasi hindi mo naman gagawin ‘yung isang bagay na napipilitan ka, that would be really sickening. Of course, you gotta love what you’re doing.”

The challenges of working as actor come in how one shapes the character he is given. For him, he does research when faced with roles that are a bit “offbeat… or a character with an illness, like Parkinson’s,” he says.

Curiously, in all of his roughly 25 years in acting, Tonton has never played a lawyer, a role that he still hopes to play one day.

“But I’m scared to do that,” he admits with a smile. “I don’t know, [maybe it’s because of] the lines, [the] terminologies, [and having scenes where i’d be] debating. Nagkaroon na ako ng isang role, it was even comedy, but I had to say lines I couldn’t even pronounce!”

For now, though, Tonton is Giorgio Lustico, the husband to Lorna’s Natalia, a cosmetic surgeon with a troubled past, in “Glamorosa.”  Only on its first season, Tonton notes, “It’s doing okay. Ratings are good. I’m not saying that it’s really great, but it’s there.”

“Time slot is really important,” the actor says, especially for soaps like this one, which normally goes into the primetime block. The series, of course, follows “Wil Time Bigtime,” which sometimes end as late as 9:30 or 10pm. But in terms of having a second season, he says, “We’ll find out when we’re in the middle [of the series] or something.”

The years and counting

A very fit Tonton Gutierrez joined a handful of young stars—“PBB: Unlimited” host Robi Domingo and the media-evasive Albie Casino, among them—during the ribbon cutting and blessing of the newly-opened Hainanese Delights in SM Fairview, one of the handful of branches the fast food chain has in malls.

“The food is great. It’s close to like eating in Hong Kong. Hainanese chicken is one of my favorite dishes, kasi it’s healthy, ‘di ba, it’s boiled. ‘Yung nga lang, siyempre you have to remove the skin." And he adds, "It’s also affordable.”

Obviously a fitness buff, Tonton even comes to the event with his trainer, Bok. Being so, Tonton easily fits among actors several years his junior, some of whom he has come to work with in his movies and TV shows. Of them, he names Coco Martin and Jake Cuenca as noteworthy in their craft.

He also singles out Gerald Anderson. “I’ve seen his improvement… kasi the first soap that he did was with us, with Glydel, me and Kim Chiu, of course. From before to now, ang laki na ng improvement niya. He’s come a long way,” he says.

Although he doesn’t have a movie in the upcoming Metro Manila Film Fest this year, nor slated to star in one in the near future, Tonton is nevertheless a veteran of quite a number of films and TV series that he now kids, “Wala na, I stopped counting!”