Aquino monitored Arroyo arrest by phone with officials in Manila

President Benigno Aquino III. Jay Morales / Malacañang Photo Bureau

BALI, Indonesia—President Benigno Aquino was on the phone with key Cabinet officials Friday in between meetings here with Asia Pacific leaders, to check whether trouble was brewing in Manila over the arrest of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her hospital suite.

“He was on the phone with the executive secretary (Paquito Ochoa), the justice secretary (Leila de Lima), press secretary [Edwin] Lacierda, [Budget Secretary Florencio] Abad, just making sure that the actions on the ground in Manila were proper, legal and coordinated,” Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang told reporters Saturday.

The calls were made in between subsidiary meetings at the 19th Southeast Asian Nations Summit on this Indonesian resort island, Carandang said.

But Aquino had far more troubling concerns in mind because he decided to leave for his hotel after hosting the Asean-US Leaders’ Meeting with US President Barack Obama at around the same time news broke about police serving the warrant on the 64-year-old Arroyo Friday afternoon.

“There had been stories of people trying to make trouble. I think ever since they got word the cases are being built up, they’ve been trying to make trouble,” Carandang said of the Arroyo camp, but was quick to dispel fears of  any brewing destabilization plots against the government.

“I don’t think it rises to that level. But I think it has a lot to do with misinformation, disinformation, and basically, sowing some confusion, and trying to undermine political support of the President. That’s been happening a littler earlier than that,” he added.

Otherwise, Carandang said, “everything was under control.’’

Despite officials’ claims to the contrary, Aquino appeared to have been distracted by the Arroyo case. He skipped a meeting with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Friday afternoon, and later the 8 p.m. gala dinner hosted by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and the 10 p.m. tete-a-tete with Filipino journalists.

He earlier missed Thursday morning’s opening ceremony and plenary session of the annual summit of the 10-nation Asean.

Carandang explained that the meeting between Asean leaders and Obama ended late and Ban Ki-moon had to leave early so Aquino decided to skip the meeting with the UN chief. But Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Aquino had to excuse himself on a pressing issue.

As for his absence at the gala dinner, where Asia-Pacific leaders including Obama showed up in their Batik attire, Aquino has conveyed his explanation to his host Yudhoyono.

“He was very candid. He said there were domestic issues that needed to be clarified and dealt with right away, and the Indonesian President expressed to Secretary Del Rosario that he understood very much. That was understandable,” said Carandang, who stood in for Aquino at the summit’s opening ceremony and plenary session.

On the last of the three-day summit, Aquino on Saturday joined subsidiary meetings between Asean and the UN; between Asean and India, the summit of 18 East Asia Pacific nations, including the US and Russia, and the closing ceremony. He also had a scheduled bilateral meeting with Laos Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong.

“He’s always been able to concentrate. He’s been engaged in the sessions. That’s not been a problem at all,” Carandang said.

Aquino was scheduled to fly back to Manila Saturday night.