The camp of Senator Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III is trying to arrange a private meeting between the Liberal Party standard bearer and Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) during his three-day sortie in Mindanao this week.

Although Aquino’s staff cannot confirm yet if the private meeting will pursue on Friday when Aquino will visit Mati and Panabo City in Davao del Norte, LP campaign manager and former education secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said Aquino wants to make it up with Quiboloy.

It was recalled that Quiboloy got disappointed after Aquino failed to attend the KJC-organized presidential forum in Davao last Tuesday. Quiboloy said they have re-scheduled the forum to March 9 from its original date of Feb. 11 just to accommodate Aquino but the senator backed out after his doctors advised him to prevent travelling by air due to his barosinusitis.

An online medical dictionary associated barosinusitis with “pain, inflammation, and possible bleeding of the membranes lining the sinus cavities in the head is caused by a difference between the pressure inside the sinuses and that outside. Sinus squeeze is a common malady of persons flying in unpressurized aircraft and of divers.”

But a disappointed Quiboloy did not buy Aquino’s reason and told those who snubbed the forum, including Aquino, Senator Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr., and Councilor JC delos Reyes, that “commitment is your word of honor. When you fail to fulfill your commitment, you have no word and you have no honor.”

But Abad defended Aquino, saying the senator’s illness and doctor-recommended rest is something that is beyond his control.

“Senator Aquino has been in an eight-province sortie lately and the sudden altitude changes during his frequent travels, coupled by fatigue and pressures during his campaign have aggravated the situation of his sinus as it also affected his hearing. This is certainly beyond his control, things that he cannot avoid given his campaign schedule,” he said, adding that Aquino has been taking necessary medications to prevent his illness from further stalling his campaign schedules and private meetings.

“We just hope Pastro Quiboloy will eventually understand Senator Aquino’s situation and give him another opportunity to speak to the KJC flock. What Senator Aquino missed in one instance, he can still make up in another,” Abad said.

Quiboloy, or “Pastor Q" to his followers based mostly in Davao City, is the founder and leader of the KJC, a religious organization that claims membership in other continents such as North America, Africa and Europe, has a total of three million registered voters in the upcoming polls.

Also Wednesday, the LP pointed out that the reason why they entertain invitations made by religious groups is their “principal concern to provide moral guidance to their voters in so far as making political choices in 2010.”

This statement was made after Quiboloy expressed his disappointment over the failure of Aquino to attend last Tuesday a presidential forum in Davao City that was organized by the “Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the Name Above Every Name,” a group claiming to have six million members.

“What is important is to keep the lines of communication with them open. We dialogue and discuss issues that need to be clarified.” Aquino said.

In Davao City, meanwhile, the excuse for Aquino's absence during a presidential forum Tuesday is seemingly not sitting well with the religious leader who was made to believe he (Aquino) had a troubled sinus and was advised by his physician to temporarily cancel trips by air.

During the start of the Sukatan 2010, a presidential forum organized by the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), Quiboloy read an email sent from the office of the 50-year-old senator.

Those who showed up Tuesday were presidential aspirants Gilbert Teodoro, Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal, Richard “Dick” Gordon, Nicanor “Nick” Perlas, Brother Eddie Villanueva and former president Joseph Ejercito “Erap” Estrada, who came in at least an hour after the program started at 3:38 Tuesday afternoon.