By Joyce Pangco Pañares

DESPITE changing her itinerary to fly to Washington, President Arroyo did not get her meeting with US President Barack Obama at the National Breakfast Prayer at the Capitol Hilton Thursday.

Deputy presidential spokesman Lorelei Fajardo, who joined the presidential delegation that proceeded to Washington after a weeklong trip to Europe and the Middle East, gave two reasons the meeting did not take place.

First, Obama “came in late, was in a rush, and was not able to talk with any other heads of state or exchange pleasantries.”

Secondly, “meeting Obama was never part of the plan and is not included in the official schedule of President Arroyo.”

“The President [Arroyo] thought it was really not appropriate to meet with President Obama... [because] the event was not political but spiritual,” Fajardo said in a radio interview from Washington.

“Of course we also want to meet President Obama, maybe at a later part of the year. Maybe some other time when they can have more time to talk to each other and discuss the concerns of both countries,” Fajardo added.

But a source from the diplomatic community had a different story.

The source said that while the invitation from the US Congress for the breakfast meeting was first brought up through diplomatic channels in October, arrangements were still being made to clinch the pull-aside meeting with Obama until last week.

The official invitation arrived on Jan. 30, but President Arroyo only decided to push through with the long-haul and hastily prepared flight from Bahrain to Washington on Feb. 2.

Mrs. Arroyo was only originally scheduled to visit Switzerland for the World Economic Forum; Italy and Saudi Arabia for meetings with the Filipino community; and Bahrain for a meeting with Prime Minister Khalifa Salman al Khalifa for a fisheries and agriculture accord.

“The circumstances did not allow a pull-aside meeting as was originally planned,” the source said.

In Manila, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the non-meeting should not be considered a source of embarrassment for President Arroyo.

“What happened is not embarrassing because it was a spiritual event and everybody is equal before the eyes of God,” Remonde said when asked if Mrs. Arroyo felt slighted that Obama did not even acknowledge her presence in his speech.

Obama, who was on an elevated stage while delivering his speech, only mentioned former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, US Congress members Heath Shuler and Vernon Ehlers, and US Vice President Joe Biden.

Mrs. Arroyo was seated at the number 1 table below the stage together with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

President Arroyo was able to meet Senators John Kerry, Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka and Ohio Rep. Steve Austria, a migrant Filipino elected to the US Congress.

Remonde said the President renewed her pitch for the Veterans Equity Bill, which is pending before the US Congress and would benefit Filipino war veterans.

Remonde said Mrs. Arroyo, who arrives in Manila on Sunday, would also meet with members of the US-Asean Business Council to discuss trade and investment opportunities.