DAVAO CITY – Following his absence during the Sukatan 2010 presidential forum that known religious leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy organized last Tuesday here, Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Senator Noynoy Aquino personally visited the pastor last Friday at the JC Compound in Buhangin, this city, to ask for the leader’s forgiveness.

Earlier, Aquino sent a letter to Quiboloy a day before the forum, stating that he had barosinusitis, a symptom complex due to atmospheric pressure and the air pressure in the paranasal sinuses, and was advised by his doctor to defer air travel for two consecutive days.

Though, he added that he will personally visit the religious leader within the week.

However, despite this, Quiboloy openly expressed his disappointment during the forum, stressing on commitment as a person’s word of honor.

But last Friday, Aquino personally sought for Quiboloy’s forgiveness in an almost three-hour closed-door meeting, along with LP vice presidential candidate Senator Mar Roxas and Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who mediated being a common friend of both Quiboloy and Aquino.

In an interview after the meeting, Aquino disclosed that Quiboloy finally accepted his explanation and apology.

“I understand how he felt and I’m really very appreciative of the time that he has given us and his understanding for the incident that happened and that it was beyond my control,” he said.

He said that he and his doctors were avoiding a similar incident during the Christmas period when he had three weeks of impaired hearing due to the volume of fluid entering his eardrum which may lead to rupturing.

“Kung gusto lang ang pag-uusapan, bakit hindi? Pero hindi man ako nakatupad sa aking pangako, hindi ko ito sinasadya at kailangang ipaliwanag,” he said.

For his part, Quiboloy was grateful for the visit.

“I appreciate their going out of their way to come and explain to me what happened and I understood that it was really beyond his control,” he said.

However, Quiboloy did not withdraw his earlier statement on commitment.

“Andun na ‘yun. Hindi na mawi-withdraw ‘yun. But at least, everything was cleared,” he said.