Gloria Romero may have ruled Philippine cinema, but in her personal life, she kept things simple. She had one marriage and one child: Maritess Gutierrez, the woman who tearfully announced her mother’s passing on January 25. While her mother was a celebrated actress and her father, Juancho Gutierrez, dabbled in acting too, Maritess chose a different path—one full of twists and turns that eventually led her far away from the limelight.
Maritess grew up surrounded by showbiz royalty but wasn’t pressured to follow in her parents’ footsteps. Sure, she gave it a try—appearing in a couple of movies and the comedy show UFO on Channel 7 after earning her Advertising degree at Maryknoll. But her heart was never in it. As she once candidly shared:
“I was not at all pushed into showbiz. In fact, though my mom found it cute to see me on TV once in a while, she didn’t want me to make it my bread and butter because she knows nga my character – that I cannot stay put.”
Instead, Maritess explored other opportunities, juggling different jobs and responsibilities, especially during her time in the U.S. while raising her child. But before we delve into her current career as a professional chef, there’s another story to uncover: what odd jobs did she take on? And just as importantly, who is the man she built her family with?
Who Was She Married To?
Maritess Gutierrez once tied the knot with Gordon Balbinwho, a former model. Their union seemed like a dream, but life had other plans. On May 9, 1992, Maritess gave birth to their son, Chris Gutierrez, in Delaware, United States. Chris later followed in his grandmother Gloria Romero’s footsteps, as a Filipino actor.
During those years in the U.S., life wasn’t all glamour for Maritess. She juggled a string of odd jobs to support her family. From arranging flowers in a local shop to serving tables at a pizza parlor, she embraced whatever came her way. She even worked at a doctor’s office handling insurance paperwork and later took on responsibilities at a podiatrist’s clinic.
But despite her hard work, Maritess’s marriage to Gordon didn’t last. The couple divorced while their son was still young, and Maritess made the decision to return to the Philippines to start fresh. Reflecting on the challenges, she shared, “She was hoping my marriage would work out. But you know, these things happen; that’s just life. Some people do worse than that. I don’t make things a big deal; I don’t make mukmok.”
She Is Now a Professional Chef
For a long time, Maritess felt uncertain about her future. “I didn’t know what I wanted to be for the longest time!” she once recalled with a laugh. But everything changed when she discovered her passion for cooking.
Her culinary journey began after she returned to the Philippines in the late 1990s. In 1999, while watching the TV show Oh No It’s Johnny, she noticed an ad for a two-year cooking course at the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA). Something clicked, and Maritess decided to dive headfirst into the program.
After completing her training, she gained valuable experience working at Aresi, a popular restaurant near ABS-CBN, where she honed her skills for three years. Today, Maritess has fully embraced her calling as a professional chef. She now works as a chef consultant at a dining spot in Parañaque.
