The Philippine Online Chronicles

The public is fascinated with our new president P-Noy. People can’t get enough of any personal tidbits and ondits about him. His father is a national hero. His mother is a former president and one of the most beloved Filipinos in modern history. His sister is a famous television personality. He is the only son of his illustrious parents. He is one of the heirs to Hacienda Luisita and the Cojuanco fortune. He won the presidency of the country in an unusual grass roots movement that took momentum soon after his mother’s funeral and never lost steam till the May 2010 elections.

Aside from his political roots, the Filipino people are fascinated by the personal life of this man. Noynoy Aquino is a confirmed bachelor. However, the public cannot help but speculate as to any changes regarding his marital status. What could be more romantic or more Pinoy movie material, than winning the Philippine presidency and having a wedding all within a few years?

The president’s rumored girlfriend is second district Valenzuela Councilor Shalani Soledad. She is 30 years old and a graduate of La Salle Benilde. The public first got a glimpse of her during the wake of former president Cory Aquino. In the eulogy by his famous sister, Kris mentioned that her son Josh had made Noynoy promise not to get married. Of course, in the same breath, Kris also told her Kuya to go with what makes him happy. This drew laughs from the crowd, but also made heads turn in Ms. Soledad’s direction.

What’s the story with these two?

If you saw the 1995 movie The American President starring Michael Douglas and Annette Benning, you’ll know how titillating the personal life of a president can be. In the movie, Michael Douglas plays a widowed American president who tries to woo lobbyist Sydney Wade, played by Annette Benning. Their personal life was played out on the national stage as their romance developed in the White House. The opposition used it against the character played by Michael Douglas since their love story occurred during an election year.

The above scenario isn’t too far off the mark in our own country. At 50, Noynoy is a confirmed bachelor. In this country, that doesn’t mean anything. People will speculate you’re either a playboy or aren’t straight. But then again, being married doesn’t seem to deter extra marital love affairs either. But if a love story or romantic courtship does happen, it can only add to the aura of mystery and romance surrounding the Aquino family and Noynoy’s presidency.

It’s the first time in many years that we have a sitting president who can actually have affairs, given that he isn’t legally married. It’s also the first time we have a male president who does not enter the doors of Malacanang with an alleged trail of ladies behind him while he walks in with his wife by his side. If he ends up with Ms. Soledad, she will surely make a lovely first lady, and will be one of the youngest and better looking presidential couples.

The public will want to know more about the woman close to the president. Being a girlfriend in this case is a tremendous seat of influence to the most powerful man in the country. Shalani is a beautiful lady and seems well educated and well bred. She seems like a simple and down to earth person, much like Noynoy’s public persona. If these two end up together, you can bet that news media will get distracted reporting on the wedding details instead of focusing on the economic crisis. I mean, who doesn’t love a good love story? And after all the revelations on the depressing state of the nation, we want to hear good news!

Given the insurmountable task ahead of him, it seems ridiculous for the people to even wonder about his personal life. After all, shouldn’t the priority of the 15^th president of the country be the economic situation? Shouldn’t the peace and order status of the country take precedence over concerns about who he is dating and if he will ever marry? Shouldn’t the presidency be ensuring that there is no tong-pats or other forms of corruption in his government? But this is the Philippines, a country that is more fascinated by showbiz antics, a country concerned on who will replace Willie Revillame as host of Wowowee, than knowing that we only have a little over six percent of the national budget left to spend for the rest of the year.

The President is entitled to his personal life, as long as the country’s problems are handled. No one wants to know that the President was on date night while insurgents are attacking Mindanao. Perhaps there’s merit to having a bachelor President. In theory, he’ll have less distractions and more time to address national concerns.

Since his own mother Cory was unable to persuade Noynoy to settle down, we’ll all just have to wait and see how this turns out. I don’t know how they can continue their relationship being surrounded by the PSG and constantly being on call for various national problems. It’s hard enough to maintain a romantic relationship. I can only imagine the difficulties his girlfriend has to face in having to compete for attention with the various problems of an entire third world nation.

Will there be a Malacanang wedding?

If there is, it probably won’t be Noynoy’s. But if it is, well then that’s certainly something to celebrate about.

Photo: “BW_Noynoy2” by The POC, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved

Photo: “Sha na nga!” by Ederic Eder, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved