Pia in ascendance

What a difference a year makes. A little over a year ago, the title of this article, in reference to Pia Guanio, would have made people think I was referring to her riding a helicopter in the early morning, giving radio listeners traffic situationers. Truth be told, I knew of several testosterone-fueled men who braved a daily early morning wake-up call just to get their daily dose of Pia.

Well, thanks to burning drive on Pia’s part, and recognition on the part of the network’s bigwigs of the talent that’s there to spread, we now have Pia at regular intervals throughout the day and night! In more ways than riding a chopper, Pia’s rating in the public’s consciousness is truly rising.

Along with the myriad of shows she’s now involved in, Pia is in demand for product endorsements. This can in fact be a tricky game.

"Being an image model is obviously part of the perks I now get, thanks to my visibility on TV," says Pia. And with complete candor and mischief, she adds, "And there’s nothing like wearing free stuff that you’ve chosen! But you’re right, it can be tricky. I make it a point to only endorse those products that I can really see myself wearing or using–that way it’s never a stretch or monumental effort to be seen with the product. I wouldn’t endorse them if I didn’t agree with them in the first place; and that’s part of the scrutiny that comes before one says ‘yes.’

"Dressing up in this day and age is really fun. The old conventions don’t necessarily hold true anymore. The distinction between what’s acceptable for daytime, as opposed to nighttime dressing and accessorizing, is not as distinct. Now, it’s more a matter of what’s comfortable for you, maintaining a modicum of taste and what’s appropriate for the occasion. I learned this and developed my style over the years. Like, look at the outfits I normally wear! There were times people would look at me like I was some walking fashion disaster area, but you know with the right kind of confidence and attitude" And looking at Pia, I know most men would agree.

"These Faconnable watches–while they are essentially fashion watches–I felt they lent to my whole lifestyle and accessorizing," Pia elaborates. "When you get the watch, it automatically comes with two extra straps, so that gives you the option of changing the look or mood of the watch depending on what you’re wearing and whether you’re getting ready for a daytime or nighttime affair. That’s so cool. The little tool one uses to change the straps is part of the kit."

Launched only last December here in Manila at the Lucerne shops, the watch comes with sapphires and small diamonds, depending on the model chosen. The people behind Lucerne assured me that these were genuine stones, not the cubic zirconiums or other semi-precious stones that seem to have proliferated in the guise of diamonds and precious stones among other watchmakers. The Faconnable line of watches are Swiss-made and when they first came in the market in 1999, they anticipated the present trend for jeweled fashion watches. The "Diamond Hands" (self-explanatory, right?) with their "Princess cut" diamonds is one of the special features of this line.

Michel Benatar, Faconnable’s watch designer, recalls the headache these "Diamond Hands" created. "We had to solve the equation of the weight of the stones," he says, "the equilibrium of the hands, and the height necessary for them to cross without touching. Then we had to work out the power of the automatic movement." Michel is also especially proud of the patented system that allows one to change straps in two seconds.

Hearing this, Pia gushed about how this time element (no pun intended) made the watch that much more attractive, "My regular day is a real mess. Straight from the Magandang Umaga Bayan telecast, which is five mornings of the week, I rush to tapings of the Cinema Review Night I do for Channel 22 with Ryan (Agoncillo). I have the noontime variety show MTB (Magandang Tanghali), and by mid-February, the ANC network will launch a number of lifestyle shows, and I’ll be figuring in that as well. There are evenings where I’m booked to host corporate events or invited to grace some social function; so having this type of watch will come in handy in creating a different look without having to bring different watches when I leave in the morning. You remember how with my hectic schedule I once told you the ideal I was aiming for was to be asleep in my apartment by 10 p.m.? Well, that’s still only a dream!"

And Pia laughs ruefully. "As it is, I’m lucky to get five hours of sleep a night, that’s why I treasure the weekends when the chance to veg is a less remote possibility."

Pia is in a very unique position. Without compromising her stature within the News and Current Affairs Department, she’s crossed over to Entertainment, co-hosting a noontime variety show, guesting in sitcoms. She is even being courted with movie offers. While other have crossed over or made sporadic excursions in what was previously seen as exclusive territories, no one has done them concurrently and with the kind of regularity Pia is now exercising.

"I do think it is important to note that within my News and Current Affairs role, I don’t do the hard news. I’m there to introduce segments or do features like the weather or traffic. The hard news we leave to Julius (Babao) and Erwin (Tulfo). That helped me in making the crossover. I know some people raised their eyebrows when I entered the noontime slot; but that was really my persistence; and the attitude is, stripped down to the essentials, it’s just another form of hosting. And hosting, that’s my métier. I’m naturally loquacious, my mouth just can’t stop. I’m constantly laughing at myself. If all of that can lend itself to hosting a noontime show and the bosses didn’t see any conflict, why not, right?"

Why not indeed? And if all the TV appearances just aren’t enough for some of you out there, you can always make the trek to EDSA, between Gil Puyat and Guadalupe Bridge and pay homage to Manel’s giant billboard. On the horizon, Pia is in ascendance–something to perk up the weary male commuter.

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E-mail me at: peopleasia@qinet.net