NEW YORK ? (UPDATE) Malacañang has ordered Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Victor Ibrado to explain the pullout of the close security aides of former President Corazon Aquino, as it apologized to the Aquino family.

In an interview with reporters at the Waldorf Astoria, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said that the incident complained about by the former president?s daughter, Kris Aquino, had taken the Palace by surprise.

?We apologize to the Aquino family to whatever concern it has caused them and we assure them that it was never intentional. We have asked the AFP chief of staff to explain this,? said Remonde.

In Malacañang, Presidential Political Adviser Gabriel Claudio said: ?We are having it investigated. The President didn?t know about it. I find it absolutely regrettable, it?s really regrettable.?

Remonde stressed that the President and her Cabinet men were not aware of any decision to pull out the two security aides who had been assigned to Aquino for the past two decades.

He said it was not raised when an administration emissary touched base with the Aquino family and learned of the family?s preference for a private, instead of a state funeral.

To avoid any more ?bureaucratic slip ups,? Remonde said Malacañang has ordered both Ibrado and Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, Director General Jesus Versoza to extend all assistance to the family during the wake and funeral ceremony.

Aquino?s youngest daughter, television host Kris Aquino, revealed the family?s disappointment over the sudden pullout of the guards in a television interview on Sunday.

The former leader died last Saturday due to complications from colon cancer, which she bravely fought for over a year.