Pia Guanio: The Sunshine Girl of Local TV

It was a stormy morning last year when I first saw Pia Guanio updating televiewers on the weather under a brightly-colored umbrella on ABS-CBN’s Alas Singko y Medya (ASYM, which has since been retitled Magandang Umaga Bayan, or MUB).

I thought to myself, "That girl looks a lot like Vicki Belo!" That is, very bubbly, full of life, always smiling (with her cheerful eyes completely disappearing), forever sunshiny even, yes, on a stormy morning.

So I called her The Sunshine Girl of Local TV.

Pia has gone a long way since that stormy morning which she turned into a sunny one with her smile. She’s now a co-host of MUB, sometimes doing the traffic monitor from a helicopter. She’s also on Cinema One co-hosting a showbiz-oriented show with Ryan Agoncillo, whom I shall call The Sunshine Boy of Local TV; and doing a thrice-a-week stint as co-host of Magandang Tanghali Bayan (MTB).

That same infectious smile never left Pia’s face throughout the one-hour-plus Conversations spent with her, with photographer Willy Saw taking candid shots of her (later asking Pia to smile some more for posterity).

For many years, Pia worked behind the cameras and what a pity if she stayed there for good! Can you imagine how drab and dreary local TV would be without that smile and that sunshiny disposition and those twinkling eyes?

Find out the stuff Pia Guanio is made of.

Thank you for bringing sunshine to an otherwise drab landscape.

"You’re welcome!"

Very obviously, you come from a happy family. You have such a happy disposition.

"I grew up with my dad’s side of the family, which is actually a whole, big family of boys. My dad’s family is originally from Nueva Ecija but I’ve never been there. My mom’s family, the Coronados, is from Manila."

How is it doing three shows a week?

"Pretty manageable. Except for Review Night, my shows are all ‘live.’ Pretty hectic, but very manageable. I start breathing easily as soon as the credits roll."

With your tight schedule, I guess you live in the vicinity of ABS-CBN so you won’t have to deal with the traffic every day...

"...I live in Ortigas Center, not so far from ABS-CBN. I don’t have any problems with the traffic because I leave home early, at about 3:30 a.m., for MUB."

What have been the changes in your lifestyle since you went on-cam?

"Well, the nightlife had to go first. My social life had to go as well because I have to sleep early. It’s been like this for more than a year now, magmula noong ma-assign ako to monitor the traffic from aboard a helicopter for Alas Singko y Medya (ASYM, forerunner of MUB)."

How’s a day in the life of Pia Guanio like?

"I wake up at 3 in the morning. By 4:15, I should be in the studio. While being made up, I go over the papers. Breakfast is always a quick bite, taken in-between the show. Before noon, I should be in another studio for MTB, after which I do some location shoots but only on certain days. Otherwise, I have the afternoon all to myself. I get home at 4 p.m. – on good days, ha! Sometimes, I arrive home at 9 or 10 p.m. – on bad days. So many things are happening so I usually hit the sack at around 11 or before midnight. I can’t sleep earlier than that. I get an average of four hours of sleep every day."

And you look so fresh everytime you face the cameras...Amazing!

"I have a very good make-up artist."

You look fit. Do you work out regularly?

"I can’t work out as often as I used to. But I manage to sneak out into the gym between MUB and MTB. It’s convenient because I go to the gym right here (in the new ABS-CBN building). I have a three-hour break and I spend it at the gym."

So you hardly have any social life...

"...I used to see my friends a lot...we used to have dinner and watch movies. But these days, apart from the people I work with, the only people I see are my family and my significant other."

Oh, so you still have a lovelife!

"Fortunately!" (Her "significant other" is Mike Jacob, Christine’s brother. – RFL)

What were you doing before TV?

"Actually, I’ve always been working in television. A lot of people don’t know that I started as a researcher for Inside Story (produced and hosted by Sen. Loren Legarda) in 1995, right after college (UP, Masscom major in Broadcasting). I spent three hard-earned years with Loren."

And what did you learn from Loren?

"I got my work ethic from her, and also my quality standards, my professionalism, interviewing skills, everything! Before then, I was intimidated by politicians and policemen. Not anymore! I learned a lot from Loren, especially when I graduated from researcher to segment producer."

How did you get on-cam?

"I began going on-cam with Silverstar Productions, a small company that produced a lot of sports shows and sporting events. Parang raket lang. My next TV exposure came in Lakbay TV. I think my big break came when I clinched that job with Caltex as a traffic angel. It was on radio but it got a lot of publicity. Siguro people found it cute – you know, this lady on radio is delivering traffic news straight from a helicopter five days a week. Siguro, they found it entertaining and interesting."

How did it feel up there, looking down on the rest of humanity stuck in the traffic?

"Well, you feel very privileged because there’s no traffic at all where you are!"

Don’t you get airsick?

"I don’t – luckily. But sometimes when the helicopter sort of dips a little bit, your heart jumps to your throat."

Being a reviewer for Cinema One, I presume that you watch a lot of movies.

"Pretty much. When I get home, the only thing I really want to do is sit in my couch and watch DVD. We make it a point to attend premiere nights. Luckily, we are not required to review movies all the time. We also interview reviewers. Ryan and I give comments on movies that we watch and our other reviewers do their own reviews."

You look like a liberated girl. What kind of family did you come from?

"We‘re only two children in the family. My brother, Joey, used to be a professional basketball player; he was with Shell. Up to now, he’s still with Shell, as assistant coach."

Do you still live with your family?

"No. I live alone...in my own place."

With your, uh, significant other?

"No. Alone."

What does Mike do?

"Oh, Mike. He’s my longest-running boyfriend; we’ve been on for four years now. He’s a stock broker."

Why did you say he’s your "longest-running" boyfriend?

"Everybody else with whom I’d been on lasted for a maximum of only two years. After two years, for some reason or another, we would part ways."

How come? You seem to be the kind of girl who’s easy to get along with, who’s fun to be with.

"I’d like to think so. You see, life is too short for you to be messing with too many things. I like to make people happy; I try not to say bad things about other people, I try to be fair to them. I try to treat everybody with the same respect that I wish I could be treated."

One of your assets is your sunshiny disposition, as I’ve been saying.

"Thank you!"

What type of books do you read (that is, if you still have time to read)?

"Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of travel books. I love to travel."

Aside from Loren, who are your other role models?

"Ces Drilon is also my idol; she’s a very hardworking woman. What I like about her is her being so down-to-earth. She has achieved so much but she never makes you feel any of it. Ma’am Tina (Monzon-Palma) is another one; she’s a very nice person, an institution in the broadcast industry. I admire people who have attained so much in life and yet they don’t have airs. They have their feet firmly on the ground. They are friendly, humble and accommodating. I also like Oprah, especially her interviewing style."

Have you always wanted to be in television?

"I never thought I’d be somebody, but I always wanted to get a job in television. It didn’t really matter if it was behind the camera or on-cam, basta sa television. My interest was to be in television."

I bet you’re a...Taurus?

"No, Scorpio."

What types of men do you find attractive?

"Hmmmmm. Hopefully, ‘yung taller than me."

Mike must be taller than you (Pia is 5’6")...

"He’s about six feet; about five years older than me. I’m 26. We have a lot of things in common, one of them sports. He plays basketball. I used to play backyard basketball with my brother when we were small. Now, I play one-on-one with Mike."

Oh, you do?

"Yes... in the basketball court!"

What other qualities do you want in a man?

"I love one with a very good sense of humor and a very intelligent conversationalist. Ayoko ng bobo!"

Are you and Mike living together?

"No, no, no! My Mom will have my head on a platter if I do that."

Have you been heart-broken? You look like somebody who breaks hearts rather than the other way around.

"Hmmmmm. With my previous boyfriends, the break-up was usually a mutual decision, so I don’t think we left a trail of broken hearts, neither theirs nor mine. I like to think that at the time we broke up, it was the best decision for both of us."

So you haven’t broken any heart so far?

"Let me see...six? I made hataw (a big pull) when I was in college, you know."

What’s the side of Pia Guanio that we don’t see on TV?

"Pretty much. I guess what many people don’t realize is that I’m also sensitive and I can be affected by the things that they do – except that it doesn’t show. Many people also think that I don’t care, that I am happy-go-lucky and carefree. But the truth is that I’m fiercely loyal to the people I love, that I value friendship."

Are you, uh, faithful and true, through and through?

"I am a one-man woman. This guy (Mike) has definitely tamed me."

Why, were you "untamed" before him?

"Well, I guess I used to care less about what my boyfriend (not Mike) would feel, you know...I would just do what I thought was right and never cared about what he felt or what he thought. Parang I cared only for what made me happy. Mike is supportive of me. He just worries about me from time to time because I myself drive to and from work."

Aha, quite independent and self-reliant!

"That’s probably because of the training I got from Loren. I like doing everything myself; I hate to rely on other people."

What do you enjoy about being in television?

"Well, making people happy. I guess I have this talent for making people happy, making them smile, making them feel good."

What about the money?

"What money!?!"

And what don’t you like about being in television?

"Loss of privacy? I’m prepared for that. Initially, I was wary about criticisms, especially negative ones, but I’ve learned to live with them."

I wonder, where do you get all that energy?

"I have no idea. Do I take any energizer? No, I don’t. I just take all the vitamins and minerals my mom insists that I take. I guess it comes from loving what you’re doing."

How do you feel when people say that you’re Vicki Belo’s lookalike?

"Flattered. I hope she doesn’t take offense."