Beauty queen is latest apple of Noy’s eye?

MANILA, Philippines - Last Friday, 26-year-old beauty queen Bianca Manalo tweeted, “Take me away. let’s go to the beach.. #balesin #whereverbastabeach.”

By coincidence, it was also the day President Aquino admitted before a crowd in Cebu that the beach was on his mind but he was too busy to visit one for a vacation.

There might actually be no connection, but Manalo, also an actress and a television host, admitted on Sunday on the showbiz-oriented program The Buzz that she had dinner with Aquino.

Manalo was the Binibining Pilipinas-Universe in 2009 and worked as a flight attendant for the domestic operations of Philippine Airlines before she won the pageant.

According to a report by abs-cbnnews.com, Manalo downplayed rumors that the President was courting her.

“Na-meet ko po si Mr. President. Wala naman pong ligawan but nakipag-dinner po kami with him (I have met Mr. President. There was no courtship but we had dinner with him.) My sister was with me,” she said.

The President has been candidly telling people that “hope springs eternal” when it comes to his finding a lifetime partner.

A source said the dinner did not happen very recently.

“If I remember correctly it was a few months ago,” the source said.

Aquino’s last dated Korean TV personality Grace Lee but they “stopped seeing each other” in May 2012. The President said he and Lee were “friends.”

Manalo, on the other hand, was previously linked with model Carlo Gonzales after she broke up with actor John Prats in June 2012.

In a campaign sortie in Misamis Oriental yesterday, the President said he must cut his speech short because if he would take too long in the area, he might eventually get to be married there. He also mentioned the beautiful women in the provinces he has visited and expressed hope he would one day meet a potential wife.