Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau places his hand on his chest as he greets the crowd upon arrival to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and related meetings in Clark, Pampanga, northern Philippines November 12, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro

‘Can I get it to go?’ Canada’s Trudeau charms Manila while ordering fried chicken

Trudeau, in Manila for a summit of regional leaders, dropped in at an outlet of fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corp after a visit to a nearby women’s clinic that advocates family planning, a touchy subject in the Catholic-majority Philippines.

He greeted nearly everyone in the store, shaking hands and exchanging hugs with fans after ordering fried chicken and a strawberry float.

“Can I get it to go? I’ll eat it in the car,” Trudeau said, before going behind the counter for a photograph with Jollibee staff.

Earlier, when he landed at Clark airport, a smiling Trudeau waded into a crowd of children gathered to greet dignitaries arriving for the summit, exchanging high fives and waving to others.

During his last visit to Manila, Trudeau won a Twitter poll with the hashtag #APEChottie that asked people to vote for the most attractive leader at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2015.

“He’s so handsome! And he’s very nice,” said 29-year-old Rina Aparicio, among the customers at the fastfood outlet. “I asked for a selfie and he said yes right away.”

Trudeau visited the first Jollibee store in Winnipeg, Canada in January, a country with hundreds of thousands of Filipino immigrants.

Jollibee, a $5 billion company that has been dubbed the McDonald’s of the Philippines, is looking to go global with primary targets including China and the United States.

The company, which also serves burgers and sweet spaghetti, is opening another outlet in Winnipeg this month and plans are to increase that to 30 in five to 10 years, said Jose Minana, a Jollibee executive.

Minana said the company did not seek out Trudeau for the visit, and said it was requested by Canadian officials.

“We’re very humbled by him taking time from his obviously busy schedule to give us a slice of his time,” said Minana.

“I’d like to also think that he enjoys the food.”