ABS-CBN Batch '86: Two presidentiables and a future first lady?

As of today, April 28, 2009, two of the broadcast journalists bred by ABS-CBN after EDSA 1986 could be president (one sooner, the other later?) — and one could be first lady.

It might be the water in the ABS-CBN studios, the air breathed by its talents or simply the reach of the network and its eye for talent. Or maybe a combination of all of the above. But the network might just be the womb that will spawn Malacañang’s next occupant — the new president or the new first lady.

Contemporaries Noli de Castro (now vice president) and Loren Legarda (now senator) are frontrunners for president while Korina Sanchez (now fiancée of a senator) might just be first lady. Each is on the threshold of something as influential, and certainly more powerful, than reading the news (which was their stepping stone to fame, and yes, fortune); although they did more than just read the news. Aside from being broadcast journalists with deep speaking voices and telegenic faces, they are all alumni of Mother Ignacia — street, that is.

I know Korina has had offers to run for senator, but she turned them down. Instead, she fell in love with someone who would be senator and could be president.

Just like this present batch of American Idol, the post-EDSA batch of Noli, Loren and Korina is a powerhouse.

Wowowee host Willie Revillame is breathing the same air Noli, Loren and Korina once did and still do (though I don’t think Willie wants to be first lady, but you get the point). He is immensely popular and obviously loved by millions. But I hope this ABS-CBN prized talent does a Dolphy and continues to generate laughter (and endorsements!) instead of laws. The former is a gift that cannot be learned, cannot be duplicated, and certainly, cannot be faked.

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There is a certain glow to Korina these days. She was positively glowing during the Wowowee episode when she and Sen. Mar Roxas confirmed their engagement. (“Surreal!” is how she described it.) When Mar choked back tears as she expressed her love for him, she tenderly wiped away his tears with her fingers. That is a side of Korina few people see on television or hear in her radio show. Korina once told me that when she loves a man, she is like a geisha to him. She will even give him a foot massage if he likes. When you are a guest in her house even for merienda, she will whip up something nice for you. When I dropped by her Bel-Air home once, she assembled a scrumptious snack of prosciutto, melon and garlic for me, down to sticking the toothpick through the canapé, before gently laying it on my plate. She had just come from Italy then and told me that her excess baggage consisted of things “like cold cuts and cheese, which I couldn’t buy in the Philippines.”

Early this year, Korina told the STAR’s Allure section, “My resolution is to give time to what is essential — family, home, health and what makes me happiest.”

A few weeks later on Valentine’s Day, Mar proposed to her at the Abaca resort in Cebu. Shortly after that I asked Korina if there was already a date set. She said she couldn’t divulge the date despite my pleadings.

“Because if it leaks, Joanne, I might blame you. Better you don’t know,” she told me.

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Mar’s cousin Veana Fores said the Araneta clan was very happy when Mar announced on Easter Sunday that Korina has accepted his marriage proposal.

“It’s about time!” was the family’s general reaction to Mar’s engagement to Korina, says Veana, adding, “He’s already 51!” Mar turns 52 on May 13.

Besides, Mar, who has changed his Facebook status from “in a relationship” to “engaged” told this writer he hopes to have more children. “I love kids! My son (Paolo, 15) is my best friend.” On several console tables in Mar’s house in Cubao are photos of him with his son, his nephews and nieces, and of course, with Korina.

The rock of an engagement ring Korina wears now, an emerald-cut solitaire diamond, is an Araneta heirloom passed on to Mar by his mother, Judy Araneta-Roxas. It was passed on to her by her father, the late Don Amado Araneta.

“We are a very traditional family,” says Veana.

Korina was into talks with designer Pepito Albert, one of her favorites, for her wedding gown. I know she puts her own makeup during photo shoots (she has a portable makeup table, complete with lights) and lets someone else do her hair. I wonder if the hands-on broadcaster will do the same on her wedding day?

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