PNoy tight-lipped on reported new love interest

Is the president dating someone new? President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III has yet to categorically deny reports that he and Valenzuela City Councilor Shalani Soledad have called it quits, but the country's first bachelor president hinted on Friday that he's seeing someone new. When Palace reporters asked Aquino about his reported date last Saturday, Aquino gave vague details about the woman he went out with, whom he said he first met "several years ago." Even as he said he's "just being friendly at this point in time," the 50-year-old bachelor said in jest that he wasn't likely to see her again. "Yung nakasama ko dun hindi na yata kami magkikita muli dahil ayaw niyang center of attention siya (I might not see again the person I was with because it seems like she doesn't like being the center of attention)," he said. "Halos lahat ng makikilala ko ganon sasabihin. Pag na-experience nilang ganito pala 'to wala na yun. Makakausap ko na yung mga madre ng Carmelite (Nearly everyone I meet say that. Once they've experienced being the center of attention, they go away. I'll just talk to Carmelite nuns)," he added. On Monday, the Manila Standard Today reported that Aquino was spotted at Nuvo Restaurant and Wine Bar in Greenbelt 2 last Saturday with a woman who was not Soledad. Aquino's love life has been the subject of much speculation, as the public has rarely seen him and Soledad together since he assumed the presidency. A report on GMA News' 24 Oras said Soledad is currently being linked to a local mayor. The last time Aquino and Soledad were seen together in public was at the mass commemorating the first death anniversary of Aquino's mother, former president Cory Aquino, last August 1. Aquino asked the media not to pay too much attention to his love life, joking that his chances of getting married were already very slim and that he would probably end up in an "old persons' home" by 2030. He indicated that he wouldn't be tying the knot anytime soon, saying he would invite the media to an event probably "20 years from now." "Depende kung kaya ko pa stag party pagdating ng 20 years from now or yung kasal na mismo na naka-wheelchair (It depends on whether I can still hold a stag party 20 years from now or have a wedding in a wheelchair)," he said in jest. The president said "matters of the state" were his priority, and not matters of the heart. - JAM SISANTE/YA, GMANews.TV