A post shared by Marco Gumabao (@gumabaomarco) on Aug 3, 2017 at 10:16pm PDT

MANILA – Actor Marco Gumabao admitted the imprisonment of his father, former congressman and actor Dennis Roldan, has made him a stronger person.

“Nung bumalik siya [sa kulungan] three years ago, I was 20 so kumbaga, nag-iba na. Mas mature na ako, mas open-minded na ako sa mga nangyari, so mas naging positive na ako. It pushed me to become a better person, a better actor,” he told entertainment site PEP in an interview.

Gumabao said it also served as a lesson to their family, which is now more tightknit than ever.

"Yung family talaga namin, solid ngayon. Kung siguro nagtuluy-tuloy 'yung noon, who knows baka separated ang parents namin, ‘di ba? ...Para sa akin, it actually became a blessing,” he said.

“Kasi for other people, it would look like devastating, kasi nga nakulong. Pero para sa family namin, nung nakulong siya, naging pastor siya, naging Born Again Christians kami. Doon naging solid ang family namin,” he added.

While his father is still serving his sentence, Gumabao is happy that they get to see him often lately.

“Now kasi, nasa hospital siya for the past month. Naoperahan siya for diverticulitis. It's nothing serious naman. So 'yun, mas madalas namin siyang madalaw for the past month. Mas madalas namin siyang ma-visit anytime na gusto namin. Kahapon, nasa ospital kami,” he said.

Gumabao is hoping his father could be released soon so all of them could be together again.

“Hindi ko masabi eh pero sana soon. It's in the works na. Inaayos naman talaga. Almost three years na siya [sa kulungan], mahirap talaga,” he said.

It was in 2014 when Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 167 ruled that Roldan is guilty beyond reasonable doubt for kidnapping a three-year-old Filipino-Chinese boy in 2005.