Duterte cancels meet with Arroyo due to bad weather

LUBAO, Pampanga — Bad weather forced President Rodrigo Duterte to cancel plans to visit former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo here on Sunday.

Marciano Paynor, chief of the Presidential Protocol Office, announced the cancellation of the visit.

Arroyo had invited Duterte to join the feast of St. Augustine, the town’s patron saint.

“The pilots made two roving flights. But clouds 400 feet high south of here were heavy and it was raining very hard. The pilot advised that the helicopter could not proceed safely,” Paynot informed newsmen at the area.

Paynor said the President sent Arroyo a text message assuring her that he would return at another date.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay turned up and reportedly met with relatives of seven Pampanga residents who were jailed in Saudi Arabia for various crimes.

Some of Arroyo’s former Cabinet members also showed up at the congresswoman’s home, but journalists were not allowed inside. JE/rga