I FLEW to Davao City Saturday, and among my fellow passengers were Senator Mar Roxas and his fiancée, famous broadcaster Korina Sanchez.

And then I chanced upon the couple again at an Italian restaurant in the city later that day because the three of us happened to be dinner guests of Mayor Rody Duterte.

Another dinner guest of the controversial mayor was Rep. Darlene Antonino-Custodio of General Santos City, about three hours by car from the city.

Although the talk at dinner centered mostly on Manny Pacquiao who would be fighting Ricky Hatton the following morning (local time), it was understood Roxas was seeking Duterte?s help for his possible presidential run in 2010.

Asked if she had already lined up projects if she became first lady, Korina said smiling: ?Ay naku, Mon, tumigil nga diyan (Stop it)!?

Asked when she and Mar would tie the knot, she said, ?Bakit ba masyado kayong apurado (Why are you in such a hurry)??

If Mar and Korina get married several months before the 2010 presidential election, the ratings of the senator from Capiz will shoot up in the surveys.

Korina?s immense popularity and Roxas?s image as champion of tricycle drivers and market vendors will make for a fairy tale romance for the masses.

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Hasn?t anyone told Roxas that his TV commercial, where he drives a pedicab while talking to a boy after changing places with the boy-cabbie, made him look like a clown doing not-so-funny antics?

The commercial has elicited lampoons from some quarters, like that part when Mar asked the youthful driver to hand over control of the pedicab:

Mar: Anak, ako na (Son, let me take over).

Boy: Hindi mo ako anak at di kita tatay (I?m not your son, neither are you my father)!

Mar: Mas lalo ikaw, di kita puwedeng maging anak dahil di ka naman kamukha ko at ni Korina (Neither could you be my son since you don?t look like me and Korina).

Even Mar?s acting in his commercial is terribly awkward.

Look for another advertising agency, Mar.

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The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) says its probe into the death of Trina Etong, wife of broadcaster Ted Failon, seems to lead to suicide.

Even before the investigation was underway, some NBI insiders told me they would not succumb to pressure to make Trina?s death a parricide, meaning Ted killed his wife.

?We will never destroy the bureau?s integrity by following orders to make it appear Ted killed his wife even if it was suicide,? said an NBI official.

The NBI?s independent stance on Trina Etong?s death is a whiff of fresh air.

Now we know where to run to when the Philippine National Police becomes oppressive.

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How come the Securities and Exchange Commission is taking too long to resolve the case against Nomad Land Corp., a nonexistent corporation, which has been accused of developing and selling a big piece of real estate in Parañaque without authority?

Nomad is reportedly run by two British nationals.

If it?s found that the accusation against the firm is true, then the two Britons should be deported.