ICYMI, Kris Aquino is now engaged to politician Mel Senen Sarmiento!
The pair announced their engagement through Instagram on October 24, and fans and fellow celebrities have since been sending their love and well-wishes to the couple.
“To my best friend and the man I said yes to spending the rest of my life with, thank you for as Bimb said, loving me for me, with no agenda, and for being just an overall good and patient man,” Kris captioned. “It’s unreal how much more calm & peaceful I feel now that you’re here.”
With the news of their engagement, it’s no secret that Mel himself prefers to keep things private, with Kris only mentioning him a few times on social media and only doing a face reveal for their announcement. Here’s what we know about the Manila-born fiance of Kris Aquino.
He is a longtime politician
Mel has been a public servant as early as 1992 when he started serving as vice mayor of Calbayog City until 1995. He went on to become mayor of the city from 2004 to 2011.
After his time in local politics, Mel moved on to represent the First District of Samar in the House of Representatives from 2010 to 2015.
He had a brief stint as Secretary-General at the time, where it’s rumored he met Kris’ brother, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
He worked under former President Noynoy Aquino
Mel went on to be appointed as the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) under the Noynoy Aquino administration after the late Jesse Robredo and Mar Roxas.
Kris has also shared how Mel supported her while grieving her older brother, saying that “we would never have met nor reconnected had it not been for Noy. Thank you to my kuya.”
He prefers a private life
The politician has no public social media accounts as of writing, and Kris’ birthday greeting to Mel back in August also provided no context and photo them both. However, when Kris received flack for the anonymous greeting, Mel was quick to defend his partner.
“Hiniram ko yung phone ni Kris – ewan ko kung nakatrabaho kita sa DILG sa laki ng department mahirap maalalala ang lahat. Wag naman masamain kung nag greet nga sa ‘kin, ba’t naman napunta na sa malas?” Mel began.
“Eh napasaya nga nya ko- kung tutuusin napaka swerte ko. Kung nag sama nga tayo sa department na minahal ko, konting respeto naman sa min ni Kris. – Mel Senen Sarmiento.”
“We agreed, what’s personal shall remain private so hanggang dito lang ang pwede kong ma share,” Kris also said on her Instagram.
