Anthony Taberna and wife Rosell

Other men would flinch at the idea of working with their wives, but not seasoned broadcaster Anthony Taberna who has mastered the art of dealing harmoniously with his energetic better half Rosell for a long time now.

In their set-up, Anthony is the president of the Taberna Group of Companies (TGC) while Rosell is the second in line but it doesn't happen that one acts more superior to the other. It is more like they see themselves as equals with varying responsibilities.

"Ito para sa mga lalaki dyan. Sometimes dahil sa pagiging macho-macho, akala natin tama tayo lagi pero minsan, kapag pinag-isipan mo ng mabuti talaga, lalo na pag nagdesisyon na kami, tapos mare-realize ko the next day, teka parang tama yung sinabi ni (misis). Hindi naman sa pagiging under the saya kundi pakinggan natin mga misis natin, Magaling talaga ang intuition at gut feel ng mga babae, sobrang tama," Anthony remarked.

(This is for the guys. Sometimes because we feel macho, we think we are right all the time but sometimes when you think about it, especially when we arrive at a decision, I get to realize that my wife was right. It's not being henpecked, but we must always listen to our wives. Their intuition and gut feel are always spot-on.)

Rosell recalled  that it wasn't smooth sailing working with Anthony at the start to grow their business while juggling the demands of motherhood. 

"Ang laki ng adjustments noong una na naging magkatrabaho kami talaga. Kasi ang hirap eh. Inisip namin kung paano mapaghihiwalay yung nasa bahay ka at pag nasa trabaho ka and vice versa. It was really a challenge for us. Hindi naman kami robot eh na pag switch ang channel, mag-asawa kami at pag-switch uli, business owners naman. We had a lot of adjustments pero ang naging bottomline is paglabas namin, kahit nagtatalo kami, yung decision namin is our decision, walang sisihan. When we face people, we are as one and this is what we teach our staff also," she pointed out.

(We had to go through a lot of adjustments when we first started working together. The notion of separating work from home was hard enough. It was a challenge because we're not robots who can easily switch channels. The bottomline is that, even if we argue sometimes, the decision that we arrive at is always our mutual decision. No blaming each other.)

Aside from the flagship Ka Tunying's restaurants, the Taberna Group of Companies also has Outbox Media Powerhouse Corp. which is in charge of events and digital production. They also have a catering company as well as a bread and pastry commissary which also engages in toll manufacturing of bakery products. Then, there's Anthony's Youtube channel dubbed "Tune In Kay Ka Tunying" and " Kuha ALL," his show on ALL TV.

After experiencing a setback during the pandemic with the closure of some branches of the restos, the couple announced that they're now back on track. From 100 employees, they increased to 170 within a span of one year. This is the reason why TGC held an Appreciation Night  for their clients, suppliers and friends at the Metrotent Convention Center in Pasig City recently.

Anthony declared that his wife of 14 years, who also happens to be the mother of his two daughters, is his lucky charm. 

"I first met Roselle in November 2005 and I was given my first break for a morning show on December 2005. She brought me luck and I think she is also flying high in her career now because she's lucky with her husband," he quipped.