Clinton: No knowledge of any Arroyo asylum bid in US

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said she has no knowledge of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo attempting to seek asylum in the United States. During Wednesday's social media event — "Hillary Clinton: A Conversation in Manila," — Clinton said she was not aware if Mrs. Arroyo sent the United States government any asylum request. She likewise quickly noted that "these are internal issues (she's) very unwilling to venture into." "These have to be decisions to be made by your government so I can't comment on something like that. It's not really within my authority," she added. She and her husband, former US President Bill Clinton, are known to be friends of Gloria Arroyo, who was Bill's Georgetown University classmate. The forum was moderated by GMA News Online editor-in-chief Howie Severino and news anchor Vicky Morales. The forum was shown live exclusively on GMA News TV and was streamed live on GMA News Online. Questions to Clinton were sourced from the audience, Skype, and social media sites Twitter and Facebook. Clinton is in Manila to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty and to launch the Partnership for Growth (PFG) initiative of the Obama administration in the Philippines. She also met with President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday morning. Clinton arrived in Manila on Tuesday afternoon. She will leave the country on Wednesday night for Bangkok. — GMA News