Why Noynoy said he'll 'follow in Mar's footsteps' on eve of Mar-Korina wedding

MANILA, Philippines - There is nothing nobler or more admirable than when two people who see eye to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends.  — Homer

On the eve of the wedding of Korina Sanchez to Senator Mar Roxas, their ninong or godfather Senator Noynoy Aquino was having dinner with 130 young ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs of the Anvil Business Club of which this writer is chairman, so I was seated to his right the whole night and had the rare opportunity to converse with Noynoy intimately.

By the way, Mar’s bride, multi-awarded TV/radio star and Philippine STAR columnist Korina, is one of the former girlfriends of Noynoy, including also the beautiful broadcaster Bernadette Sembrano. Noynoy’s current girlfriend is Valenzuela City Councilor Shalani Soledad. Warmest congrats to Korina and Mar! Will the next wedding be that of Noynoy?

The three-hour dinner dialogue of Anvil Business Club covered a wide range of freewheeling political, socio-economic and other issues, including business people’s concern on how to reduce and eradicate excessive corruption, which is the biggest scourge of the Philippine economy and social justice. However, to break the serious trend of the discussions, I got the microphone and asked: “Thanks, Senator Noynoy, for sharing with us your assessments on the true state of the nation. Now can you share with us the state of your love life? And also, with the wedding of Korina and Mar tomorrow afternoon, when do you plan to have your own wedding — anytime soon, too?”

Noynoy smiled and paused for a while, then shared with the young entrepreneurs that even the most jaded journalists and cameramen covering him or the Senate would always be more attentive and animated whenever the question of his love life was discussed. He said: “The economic stimulus package and other topics do not seem to be sexy topics even for the media.”

Noynoy then announced: “Tomorrow, after the wedding of Mar, I intend to follow in his footsteps.” The audience was pleasantly surprised. However, Noynoy immediately added that, of course, he would have to follow in Mar’s footsteps, since he’ll be a wedding ninong and will therefore follow him in the church procession! It was one of many jokes made by Noynoy that night.

On his love life, Noynoy shared: “Years ago I used to think or say to myself that I would marry on or before I was 24 years old and that I would have a maximum of four girlfriends. But now I can just say that I’m already way past 24 years old, and my total number of past girlfriends number in multiples of four (laughs). But I believe it’s a sin to give up. In basketball, even if it’s already the last two minutes, the priests used to sermon us that until the last buzzer is up, you must never give up! It is not easy for me to have a wife… I’ve had a challenging life, so the choice of a wife is not just that of a casual partner. I was in my early teens when martial law was declared, my father was imprisoned and later sentenced to death by musketry, then years later he was assassinated. Like any other person, I would also want to have a family, to have a life na malagay na sa tahimik. However, if God has not yet granted me a wife, maybe it is not yet the time. I trust in God completely. I will just leave it to God, to His will and judgment when it comes to my future marriage.”

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