A post shared by James Yap (@jamesyap18) on Apr 19, 2018 at 3:03am PDT

Rain or Shine star James Yap, whose relationship with his ex-wife Kris Aquino appears to remain strained, took to social media Thursday to reach out to their son, Bimby, on the occasion of the child's 11th birthday.

In an open letter on Instagram, attached to a photo of him and Bimby, Yap wrote: "Happy birthday Bimb! I miss you and think about you everyday.

"Alam ko na ang tagal na natin di nakapagspend ng time together, at 'di nagkikita, but I want you to know that I'm always here for you. I will always be your papa. I hope you enjoy your birthday!"

A post shared by James Yap (@jamesyap18) on Apr 18, 2016 at 9:06am PDT

Yap's message is an apparent indication that he was unable to spend time with Bimby for the special occasion. It is also unclear when they last met personally, following Yap's revelation in August 2017 that hadn't seen his son for eight months at the time.

In that interview, Yap was also candid in saying that he feels Bimby doesn't like spending time with him. A subsequent revelation of Yap that same month was that Bimby, who is in Aquino's custody, transferred schools without his knowledge, citing that he was responsible for child support in that aspect.

Yap, who was opening a bar he co-owns at the time, was then accused by Aquino of using their son of "publicity." Three months later in November 2017, the actress-host said she has waived, legally, Yap's child support for Bimby.

A post shared by James Yap (@jamesyap18) on Feb 12, 2018 at 1:58am PST

The Rain or Shine player has one child with his long-time girlfriend, Michela Cazzola, with another on the way.

Meanwhile, Aquino has been sharing updates on Bimby's birthday on her widely follow social media accounts. One video, for instance, showed how her household surprised the child upon waking up an 11-year-old.

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