Now it can be told: President Aquino does not go to bed alone.

When the bachelor President goes home to his official residence at Bahay Pangarap, he shares his bed with spies and agents, monarchs and medieval knights, soldiers and military men, among the assorted characters brought to life by the printed word.

Speaking at the Meet the Inquirer Multimedia forum on Tuesday, Aquino disclosed his love of books and magazines, and his preference for hard copy despite the ubiquity of digital media.

“About a third of my bed has all of these magazines and books,” the President said. “[There are] techno-thrillers in the mold of Tom Clancy, Matthew Riley … When I read, those types (of books) are for entertainment,” he added.

“If I want a bit of happy and educational entertainment, it’s military history in various forms, its subsets [like] civil war history, World War II, ancient and medieval warfare,” the Chief Executive said, adding that he doesn’t go surfing online, as he prefers “hard copy” when it comes to reading matters.

Asked if he has done any bedside reading on the disputed South China Sea, an issue that remains among his administration’s biggest challenges, Aquino said: “That I read about in the office.”

Toll on his eyesight

He added: “[There are] various publications … where it seems I get so much knowledge on areas not normally covered by our own media.” When “something catches (his) interest,” he makes sure he shares it with his Cabinet and heads of other government agencies, Aquino said.

With reading as a hobby and as part of his job, the bespectacled President often finds himself the subject of reminders from his eye doctor.

“Once or twice a month, my eye doctor reminds me of these medicines that I should use. I have a gel that acts like artificial tears because my eyes get dry,” he said.

Straining his eyesight is just part of the physical toll that more than five years in office has exacted on the 55-year-old leader.

“Mas marami na ho ang sakit ng katawan ko siguro ngayon kaysa noong araw (I guess I have more aches and pains now),” Aquino said to much laughter from his audience of Inquirer executives, reporters and editors when asked how the presidency has changed him.

In the early years of President Aquino’s term, critics and detractors of his work ethic used the President’s nickname to coin the term “Noynoying” as a synonym for “slacking off.”

But if you ask the man himself, running the country doesn’t afford one holidays or days off.

“If you’re with the private sector, you’re guaranteed what, two weeks vacation? Then you have the usual Holy Week, you have the Christmas (break). I don’t have that,” said Aquino.

Perpetual issue

“I think it’s a perpetual issue (raised by my) doctors and my Cabinet. More often than not they tell me, ‘magpahinga naman kayo (get some rest),’” the President said.

The pace was so punishing that some Cabinet members and journalists who joined his state visits across Europe in 2014 and North America this year fell sick after the trips, Mr. Aquino said.

“So how have I changed? It’s true; this job really ages you,” said the President, who has spoken many times of looking forward to the end of his term past noon of June 30, 2016.

In fact, during the Inquirer forum on Tuesday, when asked what hashtag could best describe his formal exit from his post, the President chose #BestDayEver.