Villar remains mum on non-appearance in Quiboloy's forum

KABACAN, Cotabato - Nacionalista Party standard bearer Manuel Villar Jr. on Wednesday offered no explanation over his failure to attend the presidential forum organized by influential Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in Davao. He has failed to show up in several forums due to a number of reasons, Villar told reporters in an interview during his visit at the University of Southern Mindanao. He did not elaborate, adding he already told the organizers the reason of his absence. "Marami naman talaga akong hindi [napupuntahan] na forum... maraming kadahilanan, ayoko na mag-specify." (I admit that I haven’t been able to attend a lot of for a for many reasons which I will no longer specify.) “Yung mga nangyari ay para sa amin na lamang, kami na lamang ang nag-uusap (What took place is something that is between us and Pastor Quiboloy’s group)," he added. He, however, did not say if he apologized to the religious leader and where he was when the forum was being held. Besides the Sukatan 2010 presidential debate of Quiboly's Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the NP was also unable to attend the forum organized by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) at the Atenedo de Davao University. Villar also apologized to the fora’s organizers, even as he issued an apology in advance for future discussions that he will be unable to attend. "Humihingi kami ng paumanhin subalit grabe talaga ang demand ng kampanya at nakita niyo naman na kulang na kulang ang oras sa pag-ikot. Talagang hirap na hirap ang mga kandidato at talagang malakas ang pressure considering na dalawang buwan nalang ang nalalabi [sa kampanya] (We would like to apologize to forum organizers. You see, candidates don't have enough time to go around and the pressure on us is so great especially in the last two months of the campaign period)," he said. Meanwhile, Villar refused to answer questions regarding the date of his meeting with leaders of the Iglesia ni Cristo, which is known for bloc voting. "Pagka kaibigan ko lalo na religious organizations, ako ay mayroong policy na hindi ko sinasabi kung ako ay makikipagkita o makikipagkwentuhan. Ito ay ginagawa naming isang pribadong bagay (I usually prefer to meet privately with leaders of religious groups, especially if they are my personal friends)," Villar said. - LBG, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV