Aquino likens finding a new President to his parents’ love story

 ROME— At least he has his parents’ love story to fall back on.

 President Aquino on Thursday afternoon told a crowd of more than 500 Filipinos living and working in Italy that finding the next President is much like finding one’s perfect match—like his own parents, democracy icons former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. and former President Corazon Aquino.

 “Allow me to tell you a story about courtship—even while I haven’t been really successful with my own love life… That’s why what I am about to share isn’t about my own love life but my parents’,” the 55-year-old bachelor President told the laughing audience.

Mr. Aquino said that during one of their jail visits, one of his older sisters had asked their father how he became certain that their mother was the one for him.

“My father answered, his face serious, that when they were young, my mother saw him at a children’s party and pointed him out to my grandfather. Since then, his fate was sealed. My sisters went ‘ooohhh…’ Then a week later, my father remembered the man who was his rival for my mother’s heart. My father praised the man, especially so that he was a good dancer. He could dance on the floor, on the chair, on the table, under the table. He really praised the man for his ability to dance, however, the man looked like a lizard,” President Aquino recalled, drawing laughter again from his audience.

Mr. Aquino said that the fact that his father mentioned the story of his rival, even after years of marriage with his mother, surprised him. The President wondered if his father remembered the time that he was jealous of his rival.

“Now, even as I laugh at the memory, the great love of my mother and father for each other made a mark on me. They are the perfect match. They reached a point when they think the same even without talking to each other. They have the same answer even when I asked permission if I could go out,” the President said.

He said his parents always told him that it was their love for each other that helped them reach their goals.

“And even if I am a bachelor, I am considered as the father of our country, so perhaps you could allow me to impart lessons to my children. The relationship of my parents are not unlike the relationship of a President to his bosses. We are looking for a match: A match of the heart; a match of dreams; the right match for a leader who will put you first and you will be ready to do your share so that we could reach our collective goals,” he said.

“When that happens, and if the leader’s heart is in the right place, he will fight for you and he will go against anyone who will oppress you because you give him strength because he knows whatever happens, you are behind him,” the President said.

“And like my father and mother, whatever a country will achieve is because of the cooperation, trust, and unity of the leader and the public he serves,” Mr. Aquino said. AU