Philippine Prez: Don't Kiss Me!
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Warns Her Many Admirers
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The government of newly re-elected Philippine President Gloria Arroyo is in the midst of peace talks with communist rebels, whom the Bush administration calls "terrorists." Gary Tabunar reports.
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Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (AP)
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"First, show some respect. Secondly, I am conservative. I do not want to be kissed by any man but my husband," she told a town hall meeting in Laguna province, south of Manila.
Arroyo often receives kisses on both cheeks by unknown admirers in a practice known locally as "beso-beso" ("kiss-kiss").
Citing her conservative nature, Arroyo said she would only accept kisses from her husband, lawyer Jose "Mike" Miguel.
"Please, all the men in the country, so that I won't be rude to you, do not attempt to kiss me," she said.
The 57-year-old president was responding to an emcee at the meeting who joked that a man in the crowd wanted to kiss her but that he hesitated because he hadn't brushed his teeth.
Her statement was carried live on the nationwide ABS-CBN cable television.
During a visit to meet Filipino workers in Kuwait last year, one of Arroyo's female bodyguards shoved away a man who approached the president with his lips puckered and ready to plant a kiss on her cheek.
A picture of the man's foiled advance was published by many local newspapers.
The presidential palace then announced that no one should ever try to claim a smacker from Arroyo, who is always protected by her troop of bodyguards.
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