Mar & Korina: The truth and nothing but

Have they or haven’t they? Split, that is.

That cliché question has been hounding Mar Roxas (soon-to-be the new DOTC head) and Korina Sanchez for months, partly fanned by a “kuryente” broadsheet report that a “third party” (said to be a highly-placed socialite) had caused their break-up.

True or not?

“What do you think?” Korina asked your columnist before she and Mar hied off “somewhere” (more on this in a while), her smiling face flashing that “naku, naniwala ka naman sa mga tsismoso at tsismosa,” at the same time insinuating that their detractors are deadset on trying — in vain! — to destroy their marriage. The couple is celebrating their second wedding anniversary in October this year.

What a fresh and welcome sight Mar and Korina were, hand-in-hand as candle sponsors at the recent 40th-wedding anniversary of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Jun Santiago. People were surprised to see both Mar and Korina so trim, wondering how they did it.

“Mar lost 20 lbs.,” said Korina. “I lost eight lbs. We combine yoga and dieting.”

Except for that rare public appearance TOGETHER, the couple are hardly seen or heard of and that probably was what sparked rumors of a split.

“The tsismis persists despite those of us who know for a fact that it’s all a figment of some people’s nasty imagination,” a Mar-Korina defender fumed.

The couple as candle sponsors at the recent 40th-wedding anniversary of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Jun Santiago.

Seconded Korina, half in jest, “Excuse me, sweet kami ha. And the weirdest rumors pa, fight daw kami nang fight, nag-alsa balutan daw ako, may third party daw. None of the above. Wishful thinking lang yan ng mga inggitera at kalaban ni Mar sa pulitika. We just laugh at it with a bit of disbelief.”

Now, about the “somewhere” in the earlier part of this story: The couple “eloped” to Australia for a quick vacation before Mar starts his work as incoming DOTC Secretary.

“I’m just so very blessed to have a husband like Mar. He’s so loving, thoughtful and demonstrative, a truly good man. I think some want to paint him as something else. Pero mahirap patunayan ang hindi totoo. We’re both homebodies. Trabaho-uwi, so we don’t get seen out a lot.”

Anytime now, Korina should be back on the ABS-CBN newscast TV Patrol, fully-recharged.

Asked if she and Mar had a chance to start on their “joint venture” — you know, have a baby — during their Australian “honeymoon,” Korina laughed. “That’s another story. You will be the first to know kapag mayroon na.”

And that, ladies and gentlemen — and tsismosos and tsismosas, ouch!!! — is the whole truth about Mar and Korina, and nothing but.

Next tsismis, please?

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