LADIES’ CHOICE “Are you with Team Nieto or Team Trudeau?” easily becomes the question of the hour, as Mexican President Enrique Nieto (left) and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (right), arrive onManila for the Apec summit this week. Described in some reports as the “Apec Hotties,” the two leaders were trending on social media. LYN RILLON/EDWIN BACASMAS
Apparently, what happens in Manila does not always stay in Manila.
Proof?
The hubbub and informal rivalry between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto over who was the sexier hunk has crossed over from the social media to mainstream media, among them CNN and the Huffington Post, even after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit wrapped up in Manila on Thursday.
BACKSTORY: Girls only have eyes for Trudeau, Nieto
Trudeau and Nieto were among the 21 world leaders who met in Manila for the Apec summit from Nov. 16 to 20. But the two leaders stood out for their youthful good looks that made women swoon and inspired the hashtag #APEChottie, which immediately trended on social media.
READ: #APECHottie: Netizens torn between Enrique Nieto, Justin Trudeau
The adulation caught the attention of CNN’s Jeanne Moos, who regularly reports on the lighter side of the news.
On Friday, the “Wacky World of Jeanne Moos” featured the “fan frenzy” at the Apec summit over Trudeau, citing a question posed by the Inquirer on its front page on Wednesday: “Are you for Team Nieto or Team Trudeau?”
Smitten teenagers’
“They screamed like smitten teenagers,” Moos said of Trudeau’s Filipino fans. But she quickly tamped down the phenomenon with some grounded facts: “Trudeau may be a heartthrob to some, but his heart belongs to his wife of 10 years,” the broadcast reporter said, showing footage of the Canadian prime minister, his wife, Sophie, and their three children.
The Huffington Post Canada and several other Canadian newspapers were drawn as well to the hunk competition, but most of them admitted being less than surprised with the attention that the son of their former prime minister, Pierre Trudeau—himself charismatic and popular during his time—was getting overseas.
Reaction to Nieto in sunny Mexico however was tepid at best.
Writing about the Facebook video released by AJ+, an Al-Jazeera network spin-off, the newsblog Coconuts Manila said, “Mexicans reacted with a resounding ‘yuck!’ toward the Philippines’ overwhelming interest in their president.”
“If corruption and ignorance are the new sexy, Peña Nieto has won! Mexico is bleeding! His government is killing us!” Coconuts Manila quoted one netizen’s post on the AJ+ Facebook page. With reports from Ramon Royandoyan and Karl Angelica Ocampo
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