Member of Benguet Ibaloi clan denies kinship with Robin Padilla

After persistent media reports on the supposed marriage between Mariel Rodriguez and Robin Padilla linked the action star to the Cariños, a prominent Ibaloi clan in Baguio-Benguet, one member of the clan has denied that they are related by blood to Padilla. According to Joaquin Cariño, the clan’s geneaology is well-documented, and neither Robin or his mother, Eva Cariño, are on it. “The family tree of the Mateo Cariño branch of the wider Cariño clan can be traced all the way back to the 15th century and has been published in the classic ‘On Baguio’s Past,’ by Otto Scheerer which came out in 1931," Cariño said yesterday in a Facebook note.
Rodriguez and Padilla were reportedly married in Baguio City last September 13. Earlier, on July 4, Robin and his brother Rommel had gone to Baguio to verify their bloodlines, according to a GMA News report aired over “24 Oras". Cariño confirmed that he and other clan members met with the Padillas, but established no link between the two. The Cariños are not disclaiming any possibility of a blood tie, he added, but the burden of proving it lies with the actor. “As a sign of goodwill and hospitality, the Ibaloi Cariños present told Robin that we actually consider him now as an ‘honorary cousin’ and we started calling each other with the term of endearment ‘Insan,’" Cariño wrote in a note posted on his Facebook account. However, he later told 24 Oras, “Sinabi namin na as of now tinatanggap ka namin as an honorary cousin. Basta, siguro dahil dyan, he took the liberties of parang sinasabi na relative namin siya." (We told him that as of now, we accept him as an honorary cousin. So, probably because of that, he took the liberty of saying that he was our relative.) Cariño also denied that any Ibaloi wedding ritual took place between Robin and Mariel Rodriguez, contradicting earlier reports about the couple getting married. "Ginanap sa bahay ng pinsan ko, si Sonny Cariño, so ‘yung nangyari, hindi talaga ritwal (It took place in my cousin Sonny Cariño’s house, so what happened was not actually a ritual)," said Jack, saying it was just "pagbabasbas (blessing)." Padilla's cousin and aunt in Baguio city said they accepted that they weren't related to the Ibaloi Cariños of Baguio-Benguet. "Let's just have a little ceremony… to welcome Mariel to the family," clarified Judith Pavia, Padilla's aunt. "Ganyan ang mga natives e (That’s how the natives are)… even a friend, if she wants to be part of the family, we welcome them, by butchering a pig, ganun." "Even Robin himself, he didn't expect, hindi niya alam kung ano ang mangyayari (he did not know what was going to happen)," added Padilla’s cousin, Carol Tibayan. Cariño said, “Just to clear the air of erroneous data, we hope that the media outlets, particularly Inquirer and ABS-CBN, correct the wrong data that they have been spreading."—Larissa Mae Suarez/JV, GMANews.TV