Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy Aquino III is scheduled to personally meet with influential religious leader Davao Pastor Apollo Quiboloy to explain his absence during the presidential forum earlier this week.

The meeting, which is not open to the media, will take place in Davao City after Aquino’s engagements with local radio stations there.

Aquino said he expects to be accompanied by his running mate, Sen. Manuel "Mar" Roxas II.

“Admittedly we did commit to attend [that forum], we just didn't expect that I would have the flu and the doctor will advise me not to travel by aircraft. Perhaps I need to explain personally why we were not able to fulfill that obligation,” Aquino told reporters during the sideline of his campaign sortie in Surigao City.

Aquino, however, said he was deeply hurt when Quiboloy called him a man with no word of honor.

“In my entire life I was never accused of having no word of honor. But we are friends now so we should not talk about the issue anymore,” Aquino said.

The senator from Tarlac was unable to attend a presidential forum in Davao City because his barosinusitis — a condition that occurs mostly among scuba divers and fliers — rendered him temporarily unable to fly to the venue.

Aquino’s inability to fly to Davao City to attend the forum held on Tuesday was only in accordance to his doctor’s advice, who told him to refrain from flying, he said in a Zamboanga City press conference on Wednesday.

Quiboloy said Tuesday that he was very disappointed with Aquino's absence as his group rescheduled the forum to March 9 from its original date of Feb. 11 just to accommodate the LP standard-bearer.