Despite her long absence from ABS-CBN’s banner news program “TV Patrol,” anchorwoman Korina Sanchez has denied that she has been fired from the show.
In a report on Philippine Entertainment Portal, Sanchez has been quoted as saying that she is just “on leave.”
She said she is taking a leave to prioritize her studies. She is currently taking online courses for her master’s programs in Journalism in the Ateneo de Manila University and the London School of Economics.
READ: Korina tatapusin ang pag-aaral kaya nagpaalam na sa TV Patrol | Korina mawawala sa ABS-CBN pagtungtong ng 2015
“Officially, it’s really because of school. I’m back in school, ‘di ba? E komo parehong online, akala ko madali. Sukdulan pala ng hirap,” Sanchez was quoted in the report.
(Officially, it’s because of school. I’m back in school. Because the program was online, I thought it was going to be easy. It turns out to be really difficult.)
She said that her online sessions with her classmates and professors are usually scheduled at 7 p.m. which covers the timeslot of TV Patrol.
Speculations have been rife that she was fired from the nightly newscast after she got into a virtual tussle with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper during their coverage of Supertyphoon “Yolanda’s” (international name: Haiyan) devastation in 2013. In 2014, she was also panned by netizens for commenting that she hopes that Japan, and not the Philippines, would bear the brunt of Typhoon “Ruby” (international name: Hagupit).
READ: Anderson Cooper-Korina Sanchez tiff goes viral on the Internet | Joey de Leon tweet seemingly disses Korina Sanchez after ‘Ruby’ comment
“Pwede bang sa kanila (Japan) na lang? Parang mas kaya nila,” she said during the newscast.
‘Unreliable’ report
Gossip blogger “FashionPulis” said that based on his sources’ information, Sanchez has agreed to being fired from the show but with a few conditions: among others, that she still be included in the show’s opening billboard and that fellow ABS-CBN anchorwoman Karen Davila be not asked to replace her.
Sanchez, who continues to appear on the news magazine program “Rated K,” called the report “unreliable,” “wrong” and “baseless.”
“Baka may mga best friend iyan na kalaban ni Mar (Roxas) sa pulitika (He probably has a best friend who is a rival of Mar in politics),” Sanchez said.
Extending her leave for Mar
Sanchez also said that she is considering extending her leave until June, should her husband, Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, decide to seek higher office in 2016.
READ: Liberal Party eyes Roxas-Poe tandem
“Sabi nila, ‘siyempre kung tatakbo siya, magli-leave ka (siyempre)’ (They told me that if he runs, I would have to take a leave),” Sanchez said.
“E, hindi pa naman talaga nagdi-decide per se. I’ll only find out by June,” Sanchez added. “So, I was thinking, i-extend ko na yung leave ko until June.”
(He has not decided, per se. I’ll only find out by June. So, I was thinking, I might have to extend my leave until June.) IDL