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Palace: Duterte did not intend to snub Kris Aquino

November 13, 2016 | 5:02pm

Palace: Duterte did not intend to snub Kris Aquino

President Rodrigo Duterte, center, arrives for a meeting with Philippine community at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia during his official visit, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016.

AP Photo / Vincent Thian

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte did not intend to snub actress Kris Aquino when he skipped their much publicized one-on-one interview last Friday, Malacañang said Sunday.

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said all government agencies involved in the Go Negosyo event were anticipating that the president would be present.

“The alter ego of the president at the Department of Trade and Industry, Secretary Mon Lopez is there, he’s the one who spoke on behalf of the president. Kris Aquino was there. (Go Negosyo founder) Joey Concepcion was there. Government agencies that are responsible to cover the president were present,” Andanar told state-run radio station dzRB Sunday.

“So there was really no intention to snub Kris Aquino. The whole force of the government supporting the program, then you just read between the lines, that it is supported by the government. It just so happened that the president was not feeling well,” he added.

When asked if the interview would push through on another date, Andanar replied: “Anything is a possibility. Everything is a possibility. The planned interview with Kris Aquino was, was on the board at least a month before.”

“It is the project of Joey Concepcion and Go Negosyo. And, I’m aware of the plans. I asked the special assistant to the president, Bong Go, about the president’s plan also, if he’s attending or not. What we knew was the president was attending. That’s why the entire Presidential Communications Office contingent was present during the event,” he added.

Officials said Duterte skipped his interview with Aquino last Friday because he was suffering from migraine. The interview would have coincided with the National Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Summit 2016 held in Davao City.

'Please give me a chance'

Aquino, who promoted the interview on her social media accounts, was obviously disappointed by the president’s decision to skip the event. While she claimed to have been snubbed by Duterte, Aquino said she is hopeful that she would be able to interview the president in the future.

“President Duterte, please give me a chance. I hope one day you would love me too,” the actress said.

Interestingly, the president managed to attend other events on the day of the one-on-one interview.

Hours after the Go Negosyo event, Duterte attended the launch of the Pilipinong May Puso Foundation, Inc., which was established in honor of his mother Soledad, also in Davao City. During the event, the president revealed that he was in the mountains before arriving at the event.

“I am very very late because I had to go to a place where we had a hard time negotiating pababa (going down). It was raining very hard in the mountains and you could just not make it on time,” the president said.

It remains unclear whether Duterte was suffering migraine while having his trip to the mountains.