Korina going on leave

This just in:

Effective early next year, we won’t be seeing Korina Sanchez on TV Patrol and her other news shows on ABS-CBN.

Yes, she’s going on temporary leave of absence from all her news programs from January to March, but she will continue with her weekly magazine program Rated K and her occasional award-winning interview show Up Close & Personal on ANC.

If you think it’s preparatory to the 2016 presidential election in which Korina’s husband, DILG Sec. Mar Roxas, is rumored to be running as the administration’s standard bearer, you have to think again. (Mar is not going with Korina.)

“It’s too early for that,” somebody close to Korina told Funfare Update. “Korina’s going on leave is not, uhm, ‘politically-motivated.’ She’s going to concentrate on an important project for her schoolwork, requiring a trip abroad.”

As Funfare Update reported last year, Korina is taking up her Master of Arts in Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University and is applying for a simultaneous course at the London School of Economics requiring her trip to Europe.

“I’ve talked about this with network management since middle of last year,” said Korina in an official statement. “The bosses were all for it. My advanced studies have taken the backseat for too long and if I don’t do this now, I may never. Kaya nga pinagsasabay-sabay ko na. It’s not easy but I’m optimistic I can do this.”

Although Korina’s trip is scheduled early next year yet, she might leave earlier depending on her plans for the holidays.

“I encouraged Korina to do this because education is important at any stage of one’s life,” said Korina’s business manager Girlie Rodis. “She has been planning this for so long. I’m happy that she finally decided to take this seriously.”

Ging Reyes, head of the ABS-CBN News, confirmed receipt of Korina’s request.

“Yes,” said Ging, as if to dispel any speculation about the true reason for Korina’s plan. “It’s a leave of absence of three months which the management has granted to Korina. The company values higher education as it is always a plus among our ranks. Many in our stable have also taken leaves of absence to pursue further studies. When they come back, there is always better output. We wish Korina the best of the experience.”

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December is the ‘marrying-est’ month of this year

So you think that June is the “marrying-est” month of the year?

Not anymore. December is it. Well, at least this year when showbiz couples have been saying and are saying “I do’s,” following in the footsteps of Susan Roces and Fernando Poe Jr. who got married on Christmas Day in 1968.

Let’s do a recap.

Year 2014 was ushered in by wedding bells for Drew Arellano and Iya Villania at Christian rites in Nasugbu, Batangas, in January, an affair so secret that even some of those invited didn’t know what was up. So?

• Alwyn Uytingco and Jennica Garcia were secretly married on Feb. 12, also very secretly. They are waiting for the stork’s visit early next year.

• Karylle and Yael Yuzon on March 21 at a Christian wedding in Tagaytay.

• Jericho Rosales and Kim Jones chose Boracay as venue for their sunset wedding. Unlike some couples who wrongly think that the whole country will gatecrash their wedding, Jericho and Kim proudly told the world about their special day months in advance.

• Boots Anson-Roa and Francisco “King” Rodrigo sealed their second-time-around (both lost their first partners years earlier) in an afternoon wedding on June 14 at the Archbishop Palace in Mandaluyong City. It was the Wedding of the Decade, traditional every step of the way that started with King doing the pamanhikan and patiently waiting for the wedding night to cap a romance that caught the fancy and the heart of the Filipinos.

• Amy Perez and Carlo Castillo (finally!) realized their long-time dream of making their union official, blessed by the church, on Nov. 12, after the long-held annulment of Amy’s first marriage. Together for more than eight years, the couple has two children, with Amy’s son from a failed marriage treated by Carlo like his own.

Scheduled to walk down the aisle in December are: Aiza Seguerra and Liza Dino on the 8th “somewhere in California” (same-sex marriage is not…yet… approved in the Philippines); Bianca Gonzales and JC Intal on the 12th (remember how JC “copied” the finale scene of It Takes a Man and a Woman in which John Lloyd Cruz proposed to Sarah Geronimo at the airport); Chito Miranda and Neri Naig on the 14th; Joross Gamboa and his non-showbiz girlfriend Katz Saga; and, but of course, Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes on the 30th in what promises to be the Wedding of the Year. (Unless they change their plan, Jewel Mische and her American boyfriend Alistair Kurtzer might have what Jewel described as “a winter wedding” in the US.)

More weddings scheduled next year: Yeng Constantino and her pastor-boyfriend Victor “Yan” Asuncion, Patrick Garcia and his non-showbiz girlfriend Nikka Martinez, John Prats and Isabel Oli, and, but of course, Heart Evangelista and Sen. Chiz Escudero on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14).

Unless a couple jumps the gun on us, that’s the wedding list so far.