A Malacañang official on Sunday said that while Pope Francis will be meeting President Benigno Aquino III when the pontiff visits the country in January, they will spend less than two hours together.

 

“Sandali lamang na mananatili si Pope Francis sa Malakanyang. Mga isa't kalahating oras lamang,” Jess Anthony Yu, undersecretary for legislative, policy and legal affairs of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said on Sunday.

 

In an interview aired over dzBB, Yu added that Aquino won’t be with Pope Francis in Leyte or at the University of Santo Tomas, two other major stops on the papal tour. 

 

“Hindi kasama si PNoy sa pagbisita ni Pope Francis sa Leyte. Maging sa aktibidad sa UST, hindi rin kasama ang pangulo,” he said.

 

Meanwhile, Yu said that the security details of the visit have been ironed out. 

 

“All systems go na para sa pagbisita ng Santo Papa. So far, wala naman na specific banta,” he added.

 

The pope will be at 11 venues in Manila and Leyte during his visit to the Philippines from January 15 to January 19. 

 

The pope is to arrive in Manila from Sri Lanka past 5 p.m. on January 15, and travel by motorcade to the Apostolic Nunciature along Taft Avenue in Manila.

 

"The Nunciature, which is the embassy of the Holy See, will be the Pope’s official residence in the Philippines," the Papalvisit.ph site said. — Patricia Denise Chiu/JDS, GMA News