BY JOSE PAOLO S. DELA CRUZ
Photography by Adem Arik
Whether on the hills of Cappadocia or on the heels of a pressing deadline, Korina Sanchez-Roxas always gives it her best shot. And in doing so, this multi-award winning broadcast journalist, mother, wife, businesswoman and advocate continues to live her best life.
“No way!”
This was how Korina reacted when a former classmate suggested that she bring a gown and do a photoshoot in Cappadocia at 6 a.m, before tourists from the world over begin coming in droves.
“What do you mean? I’ll wake up at 4 a.m. and put on makeup to catch the sunrise? No way that’s happening,” she remembers telling her classmates before they all went on vacation in Turkey. It also didn’thelp that she was so busy with work, even going as far as to voice her scripts in the car, just so she could go on an undisturbed break.
Fortunately, everyone’s sense of adventure prevailed.
A few days later, Korina was up by 3:30 a.m, putting on false eyelashes for a shoot that she said wouldn’t ever happen. She even brought not one but two gowns, with matching pairs of shoes. “What can I say, I’m an over-achiever,” she says with a chuckle.
Say what you will about Korina, but she is definitely no spoilsport.
Korina had no coterie of assistants with her in Turkey. No glam squad. No personal assistants (PA). She did have a small army of gal pals who helped organize the entire affair for her.“Our other classmates,on the other hand, ended up being my PAs,” she explains.
As for her hair and makeup, this queen needed no fairy godmother. “Darling, in my time in the ’80s there was no glam squad. I mean, I did my makeup on my wedding and I do my own face for billboards and all those other things,” she says.
“My classmate, who’s very good at arranging these trips — she would make a fortune as a concierge, I tell you — got in touch with some local photographers. They picked us up from our hotel when it was still dark, maybe before 5 a.m., and brought us to the best sights before sunrise,” says Korina.
And the image of that day now lives on in the cover of this very magazine.
“When traveling as a group, it helps to have a person like that one friend who arranged not just this shoot, but the entire itinerary. No opinion and democracy needed. She’s in charge!” she says.
True enough, and thanks to her classmate’s connections, Korina and company were also able to stay at the exclusive Soho House in Istanbul, secure a coveted table at Salt Bae’s luxury restaurant and fly to Pamukkale to behold its famed white travertine hillside terraces.
And while, again, she didn’t initially want to fly for hours from Istanbul to Cappadocia to Pamukkale, and back, she eventually decided to go down the path of least resistance and simply followed the leader. “She told me that I won’t regret it, and ultimately, I’m glad that I came. Nakanganga ako talaga [my jaw dropped] for most of the trip,” she exclaims.
Twenty countries
Compared to her globe-trotting classmates though, one of whom had already visited 89 countries, Korina’s travel life is more on the mild side. She says she has only been to more or less 20 countries. But wherever she goes, she lives her best life.
The Big Apple still takes the cake for Korina. “My husband’s idea of a vacation or travel is to go to a familiar place so that we don’t have to be frazzled into having to go here and go there, wake up this early, travel so late. He likes to live in that space. So I guess you have to like, invest time, in just one space, right? So I like New York,” says Korina, who tied the knot with former senator Mar Roxas on Oct. 27, 2009 at the Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City.
She smiles as she reminisces how they shared their first kiss under the pouring rain in New York, where she also met Mar’s family for the first time.
While she has much ground to conquer abroad, Korina reveals that she travels quite often in the Philippines. Many times, she would fly solo. “I like to travel on my own,” she emphasizes, as she names Cebu as her happy place. “I love the food and I have many friends there,” she adds.
Palawan, especially El Nido, is also usually on top of Korina’s list. “I go to El Nido alone. I’ll hike to the top of Pangulasian, which is one of my favorite spots. I just recently went back there,” she confides.
And while it’s easy to imagine Korina lounging around in a five-star resort on some exotic beach, the award-winning journalist reveals that she, too, knows how to rough it. “Alam mo naman ako, war reporter ako, di ba? [As you know, I’m a war reporter, right]? I’m used to the ‘surot- surot’ [uncomfortable] moments. But I’ve also come to be a curator because I’ve traveled so much. I love writing comments, and giving my recommendations and suggestions in every hotel that I visit,” she says.
A world with Pepe and Pilar
The world changed for Korina and Mar when they welcomed twins Pepe and Pilar on Feb. 12, 2019. Five years later, the couple’s bundles of joy have grown into precocious toddlers.
“I want them to travel to all of the places that meant a lot to me and their father. Definitely New York because that’s really where their family grew during the martial law years. I want them to be rooted also in Capiz, because that place is special for Mar and [their grandmother,] Judy. Bacolod is also on the list, because that’s where the Aranetas come from,” she enumerates.
These are no mere trips down memory lane for the family. “They have to know their roots, right? And whatever we were not able to contribute to the country in our lifetime, they should be able to go full circle for us,” she shares.
For instance, Korina, who became a mother at 54, dreams of putting up a shelter for underprivileged and abandoned kids in Capiz. “I really hope I can do it within my lifetime, but if not, I want my kids to be able to do that. They have to be citizens of this country before they are citizens of the world. Which is again, part of the debate and discussion of where they would go for big school,” she says.
Korina, who rose to fame delivering the news in English and Filipino, and hosting a slew of magazine television shows in the past few decades, also makes sure that her kids grow up with their native tongue intact. Let not their mestizo looks fool you. Aside from being conversant in English and Filipino, Pepe and Pilar are also very well-versed in Ilongo.
“Makapal at malalim ang Ilonggo nila. Kasi sa Cubao, mula hardinero hanggang lola, Negrense. At ang tatay — requirement to speak only in Ilonggo to Papi. (Their knowledge of Ilonggo is quite advanced. In Cubao, from the gardener to the grandma, everyone’s Negrense. And the dad, he requires them to speak only in Ilonggo to ‘Papi.’)
/ Photos from Korina Sanchez-Roxas
Korina and Mar also exert effort to raise kids whose feet are firmly planted on the ground. So don’t be surprised if you see this cute lil’ duo washing the family’s car alongside Papi himself. “I credit all that to Mar. He is the one who likes to expose them, wants them to waddle in mud,” shares Korina.
Even their palate reflects Mar’s healthy and rather simple taste in food, as they feast on brown rice, fish and laswa regularly at home. “Lahat walang lasa [Everything tastes bland],” Korina adds laughing, “Mar doesn’t like salt.” When the twins are away from home though, Korina says that their more child-like preferences take over, noting that they won’t eat anything other than rice and fried chicken.
Looking way ahead into the future, Korina knows that just like any mother, she, too will have to let her little ones out into the world someday. “I also want them to know which part of the world to go to for themselves. So, yes, first, I want them to help their country, but I also understand that their personal growth might be elsewhere,” she says. “They have to find their place. Who will they meet? Who will be their soulmate? Where can they be their best selves and live their best lives? Life is so short and I want them to live it.”
Korina fondly recalls how Pepe once asked her. “Mommy, will you still be here when I’m four years old?”
“Of course, I’ll be here until you’re 40. I’ll be here for a very long time!” she said. And she means it!
Korina’s best life
If 59-year-old Korina’s stunning pictures in Cappadocia are any indication, there’s no denying that Mama, as Pepe and Pilar call her, knows of what she speaks. And while she may be as busy as ever — if not busier thanks to her new pursuits, such as establishing her own beauty empire, K Everyday Beauty — Korina enjoys her best life by rolling with the punches, slowing down when needed, and most importantly, never giving up.
Korina is currently producing multiple shows, including Rated Korina, her top-rating and well-beloved magazine show which now enters its 20th year; Korina Interviews, where she engages in lengthier and more in-depth conversations with notable personalities; and TikTalks, where she reveals her lighter side on the famous social media platform — but with a few tweaks, this time around.
First off, Korina now knows how to detach herself from work. “It’s hard to take a vacation when you’re producing multiple shows. To take time off for 10 days, you have to kind of have to kill yourself working in advance,” she says.
To make sure that the “killing” stops at a certain point, Korina sees to it that she and her staff finish everything before the deadline, not just before a vacation, but on a daily basis. “I’ve also banned everybody from texting me unnecessary things, especially before 9 a.m. and after 8 p.m. That’s now a requirement,” she says with a chuckle.
“I also do not want to put on makeup, work and shoot on Tuesdays, Thursdays and weekends. So, they kill me Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They really fill me up,” she reveals. “This is because I do not want to be too stressed out anymore. I have to live long for my kids.”
Citing the documentary Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, Korina says that “one of the common denominators in places with the most concentration of centenarians is socialization.” And this is exactly why she now makes it a point to spend more time with family and friends — even if it means having to put on a red gown at the break of dawn in Cappadocia with her gal pals in tow.
Such liberties and realizations, she adds, were silver linings brought forth by the pandemic and the subsequent shutdown of her mother network. “I’ve always known how to produce my own shows but I’ve always only done it as an employee. I’ve been an employee all my life,” she says. But when push came to shove, she started producing her own shows in the truest sense of the word, which means investing her personal funds.
Unsurprisingly, her efforts paid off. Korina’s shows now air on the Kapamilya Channel, TV5, IWantTFC and even Net 25, and also run on various online media platforms.
Indeed, life is a journey that has brought Korina places, and on some occasions, to perfect days. But even perfect days have changed for this lady.
“In my thirties, a perfect day would be one where I would have a bash. I would perform in a concert for a captured audience who would have to clap for me and blah blah blah. In my fifties, I just wanted a day on the beach with my dogs around me,” she says. “But now, with Pepe and Pilar, I no longer savor my solitude as much. I get uneasy without them.”
Well, one thing’s for sure. Korina knows where her heart is.
