MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino ended 2015 with an activity he will soon fully enjoy again once he steps down in six months: driving a fast car.
Aquino got behind the wheel of a GT-R or grand touring racing coupe on Dec. 31 to greet 2016 in Baguio City, where temperatures have plummeted in recent days.
Palace officials said they did not know the brand of the sports car and said Aquino merely borrowed it for the New Year break, during which he is hoping for privacy. Some reports said it was a Nissan GT-R.
Last year Aquino had said that in his youth, he would often go off alone on long drives, sometimes as far as his home province of Tarlac.
“Parang in control ka sa buhay mo, para bang normal ulit, may oras kang mag-isip, wala kang iniintindi (It’s like you’re in control of your life, like everything’s normal again, you have time to think, you’re not worrying about anything),” he told comedian Vice Ganda.
In January 2011, seven months into his presidency, Aquino came under fire for buying what Malacañang described as a “third-hand” 2007 Porsche to replace the P4.5-million blue BMW he drove when he was a senator.
Some reports said the Porsche was purchased from a close friend of Aquino’s. Amid the furor, the President sold the sports car in July 2011. The Palace never identified the previous owner or who bought it from the President. The price was also not disclosed.
The President spent his New Year holiday at the Mansion House unannounced.
Two presidential helicopters and another Air Force Huey helicopter, part of Aquino’s advance party, arrived at the Mansion House at around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.
“The President spent the New Year privately,” a member of the Office of the Press Secretary-Philippine Information Agency (OPS-PIA) said.
Joseph Zambrano, a staff at the OPS-PIA Cordillera, refused to say when the President will return to Manila.
Baguio Rep. Nicasio Aliping, an ally of Aquino in the Liberal Party, also could not say until when the President would stay in the city.
In 2014, the President celebrated New Year in Manila with his family.