Noynoy, Villar skip Quiboloy forum; pastor ‘disappointed’

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Presidential candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III’s failure to attend a presidential forum here organized by Pastor Apollo Quiboloy has made the influential religious leader “very disappointed." Aquino’s closest rival to the presidency, Sen. Manuel "Manny" Villar Jr. (Nacionalista Party), also skipped the event. Quiboloy said they re-scheduled the forum to March 9 from its original date of February 11 just to accommodate the Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer. He said the postponement of the Feb. 11 schedule was also due to the request of Aquino, who supposedly told the group he was unavailable on that date. “They said they won’t be able to make it to time so I asked them to choose a date. Senator Aquino chose March 9 and they committed to come at this date," Quiboloy said in a speech before the forum. “I would like to tell all of you, who are as disappointed just like me, what commitment is. Commitment is your word of honor. When you fail to fulfill your commitment, you have no word and you have no honor," he added. Nory Cardona, Quiboloy’s chief of staff, described their leader as “very disappointed" with Aquino’s absence. “Ano pa bang mas tama, sobra pa sa very disappointed (Is it right to say that Pastor Quiboloy was more than very disappointed)?" she said. Word of honor In an interview after the forum, Quiboloy said he was disappointed with Aquino and Villar. “I’m disappointed to both of them." “The right word probably is disappointment because this is not just a random presidential forum. We planned this ahead of time, Feb 11 was the original date and before that we already informed them, they committed and then they changed that, to accommodate him (Aquino) we had to let him choose the date so that libre talaga siya, March 9 is the chosen date of Noynoy Aquino," he said. On Villar, he said that, “During the course of the forum while we were waiting sinasabi ng kanyang chief of staff parating na kami, parating na kami only to know that they will not come." Quiboloy said he expected the presidential candidates to value their word of honor. “We planned this for a long time, we invited them ahead of time, we gave time, ample time and for them not to commit, and for them not to be very direct on their commitment to is something already," he said He added that the absence of the top two presidential contenders is unfair not only to him but to the Filipino people. Barosinusitis Aquino, in a text message forwarded by LP campaign manager Florencio "Butch" Abad to GMANews.TV, said his physicians had advised him against traveling by aircraft due to barosinusitis. “I deeply regret to inform you that I have been advised by my physicians to provisionally defer any flights due to barosinusitis. My doctors have advised me to provisionally avoid any travel by aircraft for at least two consecutive days because any atmospheric or barometric pressure will only aggravate my present condition," the message, which was originally sent to Quiboloy, read. In a phone interview, Abad told GMANews.TV that Aquino would make up for his absence “as soon as he is physically able to do so." Roll call Present in the forum, which was held at the religious group’s headquarters, were Senators Richard Gordon (Bagumbayan), Ma. Ana Consuelo “Jamby" Madrigal (independent), Nicanor Perlas (independent), Gilberto Teodoro Jr. (Lakas-Kampi-CMD), and Eduardo "Eddie" Villanueva (Bangon Pilipinas). Former President Joseph Estrada (Pwersa ng Masa) was also in attendance but he came late to the forum. The forum was moderated by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's election adviser, Romulo Macalintal. The organizers said the forum was neither a debate nor a competition but a venue for the candidates to state their platforms and express their views. - with Johanna Camille Sisante/KBK, GMANews.TV