The once colorful love life of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, which often made headlines, has made a turn from being "regular" to "zero." The bachelor President himself described his love life this way in a meeting on Wednesday night with the Filipino community in Beijing, where he is on a five-day state visit. In his speech, Aquino explained that he is too busy to have a love life as he is rebuilding the country after the nine-year regime of his predecessor, former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. "Nung nawala si Ginoong Marcos, nanay ko pumalit, siya ang nag-ayos. Twenty years later, alis si Ginang Arroyo, ako naman ang mag-aayos. Sabi ko, kawawa naman 'to," he said.
Then he joked about his love life, likening it to a soda brand that carries different varieties of its popular soft drink.
"May nagtanong ho kasi sa akin, sabi niya, 'kamusta love life
mo?' Eh ang sabi ko po sa kanya, parang Coca Cola," he said.
"Noong araw, 'regular.'
Naging 'light.'
Ngayon, 'zero.'" His remark was met with applause and laughter from about 2,000 overseas Filipino workers who attended the meeting. Aquino's jokes about his love life are a welcome surprise to many, as he himself has said that he does not want to talk about his romances. In 2010, when he was just starting his term, Aquino said he wants to keep his love life private, even asking his sister, showbiz celebrity Kris Aquino, to refrain from making remarks about it. In May this year, after Aquino was seen attending a concert with a woman who appeared to be his date, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told the media that even his staff do not have details about his romantic dates. "He is asking for privacy because all his events are now public," Lacierda said. "This is just a very human request on anyone's part, to have some level of privacy even if he's a public official." However, Aquino is known to occasionally mention his love life - or the lack of it - in his speeches. In a speech he delivered in Iloilo earlier this year, he mentioned that he is still looking for his
"palangga," an Ilonggo word for "loved one." When Aquino assumed office in 2010, he was in a two-year relationship with Valenzuela City councilor Shalani Soledad. The two broke up some time between September and October last year, but both have been mum about the reasons for the breakup. After their split, Aquino reportedly dated stylist Liz Uy; stockbroker Len Lopez; and early education teacher Bunny Calica, the woman Aquino brought to the Hotdog reunion concert in May. In June this year, he was briefly linked to Filipino-Korean TV host Grace Lee, whom Aquino called "beautiful" at an event in Cebu.
— RSJ/HS, GMA News 
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