In 1992, the action hero, became a senator, holding office until the end of his two terms in 2004.

Despite having a number of detractors, Senator Ramon Revilla Sr., was able to mark his stay in the senate as the author of some important bills. But the one he spearheaded that raised his popularity was the bill casually called the “Revilla Bill”.

An amendment to the Family Code, enacted into the law on February 2004, states “The illegitimate children may use the surname of their father if their affiliation has been expressly recognized by the father through the record of birth appearing in the civil register, or when an admission in a public document or private handwritten instrument is made by the father.”

“The child should not suffer the stigma of his illegitimacy,” the senior Revilla was once quoted as saying.

The amendment made sense, more so because a celebrity who was rumored to have sired a number of “love children” created it.