Ballsy hopes Noy be given a chance to date

MANILA, Philippines - Ballsy Aquino-Cruz, President Aquino’s eldest sister, said yesterday she hoped the public would give her only brother the time and space to go out on a date, even “just once a month.”

“As a bachelor, he cannot help but be in the company of some female friends, although I know that that rarely happens nowadays. I think once. Sana pagbigyan ng mga tao na maka-date siya kahit na once a month (I hope they allow him to date even if only once a month),” Cruz said yesterday at the sidelines of the launching of the Aquino Museum Redesign Competition, a contest that aims to find the best design that will capture the legacy of her parents, the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. and former President Corazon Aquino, at the Ayala Museum in Makati City.

But Cruz said that like their late mother Cory, she and her sisters – whom their late dad labeled the “four witches” – don’t meddle in their brother’s affairs of the heart.

“My sisters and I would say, ‘Noynoy is 50, we don’t need to interfere in that aspect of his life’,” Cruz said. Before her brother became president, he would turn to his sisters for advice on what to give his dates, and their youngest sister Kris was most helpful with her suggestions, “because the girls Noy would date would be closer to her age.” Kris, the youngest sister, is 39 years old.

Cruz said at this stage in their lives, “We have gotten used to the (thought) that he’ll be a bachelor all his life. On the bright side, all his nephews and nieces will have more of his time. He does not have to get along with anybody. But if it is his fate to meet someone whom he can share the rest of his life with, then that would be beautiful, too.”

Cruz said she does not favor any particular woman for the President. “Wala (No one). Like we didn’t want others to interfere in our choices for partners, we don’t interfere with Noy’s choice, unless dapat huwag (he really should not go out with her). Our mom never interfered with us.”

She said the last time she spoke with the President’s former girlfriend Valenzuela Councilor Shalani Soledad was last August, when the latter greeted her on her birthday. Cruz said she presumes the President and Soledad, who were together for two years, made their career a priority over their personal relationship at this point in their lives.

Cruz said she also spares her brother from unsolicited advice in matters of governance.

“When Mom was President, she had much information that many others didn’t. That’s how I feel now. Maraming nalalaman si Noy, bakit pa ako makikigulo (Noy knows a lot of things, why should I meddle?) Unless I know that he really he needs to know something, then I spare him from all our comments, my comments.”

Cruz is the chairperson of the Ninoy and Cory Foundation, which runs the Aquino Museum in Tarlac. The redesign competition for the nine-year-old museum is being organized by Lafarge Cement Services, through its associated companies Republic Cement Services and Iligan Cement Corp. While the renovation is ongoing, part of the memorabilia of Ninoy and Cory Aquino will be displayed at the Ayala Museum.