Boots Anson-Roa's children 'release' mom
“In behalf of my siblings, we are releasing our mom to our new father.”
With this, Joey Roa, son of Boots Anson-Roa and the late Pete Roa, welcomed his future stepdad, Atty. King Rodrigo to their family.
Joey also made the guests, led by Remedios, the future groom’s 99-year-old mother, Chiqui, Boots’ daughter and other members of the Rodrigo and Roa clan, relax, smile and laugh.
The event: the well-loved Filipino tradition of pamamanhikan, where King, his petite mom beside him, formally asked for Boots’ hand in marriage. The place: the Andrea North Towers roof deck, where one can get a breathtaking view of the Quezon City lights at night.
Also read: Boots Anson-Roa ready to become a June bride
There was good food and music, as King offered a bottle of red wine to his and Boots’ well-heeled guests, among them their wedding sponsors, Manila mayor Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada and Susan Roces.
Susan feels she’s also representing her late husband, Fernando Poe Jr., one of Boots’ favorite leading men. Erap, on the other hand, described Boots and King as the ideal couple.
Wedding preparations
Purple is the motif for the much-awaited wedding and Boots and King are getting a choir to provide the music. Boots hopes her friend Gary Valenciano can sing at the wedding, set Saturday, June 14, 5 p.m. at the Archibishop’s Palace in Mandaluyong. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will officiate the nuptial Mass.
King and Boots are glad their relationship and upcoming wedding are inspiring widows, widowers and single persons who want a second chance at happiness.
“We are happy na napadama namin sa iba ang pagpapahalaga sa sanctity of marriage,” said Boots.
King adds, “Entering into the sacrament of matrimony is the only right way to do it if you want to pursue love.”
Vicente, King’s son meanwhile said: “My grandfather (the late senator Francisco ‘Soc’ Rodrigo) wrote love poems to my grandmother. My dad wrote the same things to my late mom. And now, he has love poems for Tita Boots.”
King and Boots admit that while everybody is sure they will live happily ever after, they will have to face the challenge of adjusting to each other from here on. After all, Boots is a widow for six years now while King lost his first wife Olga five years ago. Having each other 24/7 after their wedding would surely take some getting used to.
“Tanggap ko na ang adjustment. The blessing is, we are very willing to take the challenge of adjustment,” Boots spoke for herself and King.
With that, the couple gazed into each other’s teary eyes and did a slow dance that could melt the hardest of hearts, while “Kahit Maputi na ang Buhok Ko” was rightfully playing in the background.
