By Helen Cook

Manila, Nov 18 (EFE).– Philippine social-networking sites have been awash with praise for Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who have caused a stir here among a segment of the female population since arriving for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Only minutes after they had landed in this capital, numerous messages from female admirers began appearing under the Twitter hashtag #APEChotties.

“Thanks for blessing our land with your presence,” one user tweeted about the Canadian’s visit to the capital, accompanying the message with several photos – both new and old – of the 43-year-old leader.

Compliments for the 49-year-old Mexican also were plentiful on the Web, with one Twitter user asking, “President Peña Nieto, how did you get so cute?!”

For some Web users, the presence of these telegenic leaders made some summit-related inconveniences more bearable: “Who cares about traffic jams when you have Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and Mexican President Peña Nieto?”

Many Twitter users, however, could not decide which of the two leaders was more attractive and conducted informal surveys to find an answer.

Numerous tweets under #APEChotties quickly made it one of the most popular hashtags in the Philippines, and that trend was continuing 24 hours after those leaders’ arrival on the archipelago.

Admiration for the Canadian and Mexican leaders’ physical appearance also extended to Philippine female media personnel, whose enthusiastic shouts were heard in the large press center prepared by summit organizers to greet their arrival.

The journalists’ expressions of approval were such that a representative of the Philippines’ president’s office had to explicitly request that journalists refrain from screaming hysterically during press events involving Trudeau.

The jovial and laid-back nature of Filipinos has lightened the mood at the Nov. 18-19 APEC summit among the more than 3,000 accredited journalists, who also have at their disposal a massage room free of charge at the press center.

Eight therapists help to lower journalists’ stress levels starting at 1 p.m., when media professionals have already spent several hours at their computers.

“We massage arms, head and back for 10 or 15 minutes, enough to relax the most tense muscles,” Beth Pineda, a masseuse, told EFE.

“Most journalists arrive stressed, but they leave here with smiles on their faces. I think we’re creating a more fun atmosphere,” she added.

A few yards from the massage room, APEC organizers set up a giant screen with images of stunning Philippine scenery and a dozen lounge chairs specially designed to ease the reporters’ aching backs.

A speaker plays soft music to help journalists transport themselves to the country’s idyllic landscapes, which are located just a few miles outside Manila yet seem light-years removed from the capital’s chaos. EFE