From being a seasoned multi-faceted artist and one of the well-loved mainstays of It’s Showtime, Jhong Hilario is currently winning our hearts as a doting and awesome dad to his and longtime partner Maia Azores’ firstborn Sarina Oceania.

Ever since giving birth to her on March 27, 2021, the couple has been delighting their followers with photos and videos showing their fondest moments as a family. But among our favorites are the ones that exhibit the cute kulitan and duet moments between Jhong and Sarina, which rake in thousands of “likes” and comments from netizens on social media.

With how unbelievably articulate, talented, smart, and cheerful his daughter is, many, for sure, wonder how they are raising her. And he opened up about it, as well as a bit of his fatherhood journey during his exclusive interview with Bernadette Sembrano in the pilot episode of the newest ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs program “Tao Po.”

The seasoned broadcast journalist paid them a visit at their humble abode, and started off their conversation by commending Sarina for being such a bright kid. While parents like him are expected to teach their children growing up, he confessed that it’s actually the other way around for them since he’s the one who gets to learn a lot from her.

Their song performances together never fail to capture the hearts of everyone, and according to the It’s Showtime host, Sarina was able to learn the nursery rhymes and classic songs they sing, such as “Moon River” and “Fly Me To The Moon,” through listening to them over and over again upon waking up every morning.

Even though the pandemic had negative impacts to a lot of people, it has allowed him to be by his wife’s side during and after her pregnancy, as well as to take good care of their daughter and do his daddy duties during the first few months.

With regards to their parenting styles, Jhong disclosed that he and Maia are actually arguing whether to apply tough love on her, which most of us probably grew up to as their way of disciplining her and telling her if she’s done something wrong. Whatever their way of teaching her right conduct, the most important for them is that they’re able to explain to her the repercussions of her wrongdoings.

The arrival of Sarina has indeed brought tremendous lifestyle change in his relationship with Maia, as well as their dynamics as individuals. They’ve learned how to wisely manage their time, especially him who has to divide his every day to his commitments as a public servant, performer, and father. Besides, he also got compelled to turn back to exercising, especially now that he’s already in his late 40s, in order for him to keep himself healthy and to witness Sarina reach her 18th birthday and graduate from college.

And speaking of graduation, Jhong revealed that one of his motivations in finishing his education, not to mention as magna cum laude, is to inspire Sarina to accomplish hers, too, in the future.

She may now be considered as a “star” because of the impressive talents and irresistible charm that she exhibits, but the proud dad divulged that he will never push Sarina to follow his footsteps in the entertainment industry and will definitely respect her decision to take on a different path someday.

“Gusto ko si Sari, isang gift na para mawala ‘yong problema, makalimutan kahit panandalian ang problema kapag pinanood mo. Itong two-year-old na batang ito e ma-inspire ‘yong mga parents na gano’n din ‘yong gawin nila sa mga anak nila. Aaliwin mo siya, sasabayan mo siya. Hindi naman ‘yon na sumulpot na lang bigla na kakanta ako, of course, tuturuan mo, titiyagain mo. Pero ang sikreto ro’n is lagi mo talagang kakausapin at ‘yong atensyon mo sa kanya kapag kausap mo siya,” he told Bernadette.

Just like every parent, Jhong also considers Sarina as their ball of sunshine and stress-reliever. “Kahit pagod na pagod ako, kapag nakita ko siya, kapag nakasama ko siya, pwede na ulit ako magtrabaho bukas,” he said.