BALI, Indonesia鈥擜pparently disturbed by a looming crisis in Manila, President Aquino skipped Friday afternoon鈥檚 bilateral meeting with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and Friday night鈥檚 gala dinner hosted by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Asia-Pacific leaders, including US President Barack Obama, showed up in their Balinese attire for the gala dinner hosted by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at around 8 p.m. at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, and Mr. Aquino wasn鈥檛 one among them.
Phone cut off
鈥淣o,鈥� Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang said when asked by phone if the President was attending the dinner. The call, however, was cut off.
鈥淗e had a pressing issue that he had to excuse himself on,鈥� Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, who represented Mr. Aquino in the meeting with Ban Ki-moon, said in an earlier interview.
The 5:30 p.m. bilateral meeting, which was requested by the UN chief, took place at around the same time news broke that an arrest warrant had been issued against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Manila.
Del Rosario thanked the UN chief over the body鈥檚 various programs for different sectors in the Philippines, while Ban Ki-moon lauded the Philippines for its ratification of the Rome Statute, among others.