Veteran actress Janice de Belen said she has no plans to interfere with the talked-about romance between her daughter, actress Kaila Estrada, and actor Daniel Padilla.
Janice spoke about it on Jeepney TV's talk show Stars on Stars, where she appeared with her younger sister, actress Gelli de Belen. She was asked how she felt when she first learned that Kaila and Daniel were seeing each other, and what she told her daughter about it.
Her answer was that none of it caught her off guard.
"Ano 'yung naramdaman ko? Wala naman. Kasi na-predict ko na rin naman na may mga ganitong mangyayari kasi siyempre nag-umpisa ako sa showbiz. Halos lahat ng naging boyfriend ko, 'yung napangasawa ko, showbiz din. Eventually, magkakaroon siya ng karelasyon na showbiz. Of course, hindi mo lang alam kung sino, 'di ba? Mamimili ka lang. 'Sino kaya dito?'" Janice said.
The 57-year-old actress, who began as a child star in the late 1970s, raised her children inside the same industry. Her eldest, Luigi, is her son with actor Aga Muhlach. Inah, Moira, Kaila and Yuan are her children with former husband John Estrada.
Janice said that once the rumors started making the rounds, she decided to look into it herself, knowing she would not get a straight answer from Kaila.
"So nung time na 'yun na nachi-chismis, ang naiisip ko, kailangan kong tingnan. Kasi feeling ko, there's a possibility. Siyempre 'pag sinabi mo kay Kaila, sasabihin niya, 'Hindi, hindi, hindi,'" she said.
She added that she had told her daughter long before any of this that dating someone from showbiz means giving up a measure of privacy.
"Tsaka nasasabi ko na sa kanya na 'pag showbiz ang naging boyfriend mo, whether you like it or not, the relationship will be public. Hindi mo maiiwasan, especially depende pa kung sino. So nung nangyari naman 'yun, eh 'di, prediction games," Janice said.
Even so, she said she is leaving the matter alone. Kaila turned 30 last March.
"It's her life. She's an adult. There is nothing I can do and there is nothing I want to do," she said.
Gelli, who is Kaila's aunt, said what counts is that her niece is content. "Basta masaya siya," she said.
Janice said the same thing.
"Yes, basta masaya siya. Again, basta masaya ang anak mo, 'yun lang ang importante. Okay ka dun," she said.
Kaila and Daniel first worked together on the ABS-CBN action-drama series Incognito. Talk about the two began in September 2025, when showbiz reporter Ogie Diaz said on his YouTube show that a source had confirmed they were together.
Neither has spoken publicly about the relationship, though both have grown more open online. Two days after Daniel's 31st birthday celebration last April 26, Kaila posted an Instagram story of the two of them hugging, set to Justin Bieber's "Everything Hallelujah."
On May 30, Daniel shared a set of photos that included Kaila, with a caption fans read as a quiet acknowledgment: "There are no ifs, woulds, coulds, shoulds. It just is. And we just are." Late last month, Kaila posted photos from their trip to Japan with friends.
Daniel was previously in an 11-year relationship with former love team partner Kathryn Bernardo. The two confirmed their split on November 30, 2023.
Janice has been asked about her daughter's love life more than once this year. In a Julius Babao vlog in April, she said her advice to Kaila was to "guard your heart."
On Fast Talk with Boy Abunda in May, she said she is simply happy that Kaila is happy. John Estrada, for his part, has said he trusts whatever his daughter decides and that it is up to her to explain the real score.