Thank you, Romulus. I do not speak Tagalog / Filipino. I did some contextual research of the words, and that is what I came up with! It's a good thing to have native speakers here! I think the context I saw re: meeting the President may have been better like this: "I RAN INTO Madonna at the grocery store!" (I met her by chance.) Also, it appears that "naabutan" can mean "watched" or "caught a program": Ex.: "You can CATCH (watch) 'American Idol' Wednesday nights at 9:00 on FOX-TV."

@ Erik: Wow! great work you have extended to my fellow countryman. Although, I'd like to stress on something about the word "naabutan": 1. "I want to MEET the President someday." (Nais ko na MAKILALA ang pangulo pag dating ng panahon): "the word "naabutan" can not be used in this particular sentence. to MEET in Tagalog is "Makilala" (to know someone's name) or "Masalubong" (encounter) or "Makita" (to see) :)

both these verbs are in the past tense form and used differently (sometimes, can not be translated directly into english, or not necessary to state): "naabutan" - from the root word "abot" means 'to equal' / 'to be equal to' / 'to be of the same level' / 'to be the same' / 'to match', when expressed as a comparisson. ex. "naabutan ko ang grado ni Mark" - 'I have matched/equalled Mark's grade' "naabutan" if expressed as an action could mean: "to be chased" (which is also commonly replaced as "nahabol"). ex: "naabutan ko pa ang tren na papaalis" - 'I've chased the leaving train' "naabutan" can also be used to express time: ex1: "naabutan ko siya na naninigarilyo bago dumating ang kanyang tatay" - "I caught him smoking before his father arrives. ex2: "naabutan ko siya na natutulog nang dumating ako" - 'he/she was (or, I caught her/him) sleeping when I arrived' ex3: "naabutan ko na ang mga awiting iyan!" - "I was already here (born) when I heard those music / songs!" "nalagpasan" is literally translated "to exceed" / "to outmatch" / "to outperform" / "to surpass" ex: "nalagpasan ni Jojo ang galing ni Terry sa pagsasayaw!" (Jojo outperformed Terry in dancing!) ex2: "magdiwang tayo!, nalagpasan ko na ang kota ng benta ko!" (let's celebrate!, I exceeded my sales quota!) :)

"naabutan" = 1. "to meet", 2. "to reach, to arrive at, to get to", 3. "to be understood by, to make sense to, to be caught by, to be picked up on" Examples: 1. "I want to MEET the President someday." 1. "The movie didn't MEET my expectations." 2. "Water will boil when it REACHES 180 degrees F." 2. "We will ARRIVE AT Logan Airport in about 5 minutes." 2. "We have been driving a long time. Let's stop for lunch when we GET TO the next exit." 3. "I told a joke at dinner, but it was only UNDERSTOOD BY my grandfather." 3. "The lecture today didn't MAKE SENSE to me." 3. "Some of my spelling errors were not CAUGHT BY the teacher." 3. "My bad mood was only PICKED UP ON by my mother." "nalagpasan" = 1. "to exceed", 2. "to (sur)pass", 3. "to go over(time)", 4. "to break (a record)", 5. "to beat (in a game), 6. "to overcome", 7. "to conquer" 1. "You have EXCEEDED your credit card limit." 2. "The jobless rate in our city has SURPASSED the national average." 3. "The basketball game was tied and WENT INTO OVERTIME." 4. "I BROKE the record for most books read in one summer at my school." 5. "I BEAT that new video game in less than 24 hours." 6. "Mary OVERCAME the odds and learned to walk again after the accident." 7. "Alexander the Great CONQUERED most of the world in his lifetime." "naabutan/nalagpasan" - "to meet / to exceed (expectations)" Ex. "My annual review at work says that I MEET and EXCEED expectation." Ex. 2: "Wow, Kim -- your new boyfriend MEETS and EXCEEDS my expectatons!"

Hi! actually their is two meaning in the words "naabutan" its depend on the how you use the words ex. 1. "naabutan ko siya ng pera' = i give him/her money 2. ' naabutan ko silang kumakain ng tanghalian 'we catched them eating their lunch'. 3 'nalagpasan na natin ang bahay nila=we already passed to their house.. hope that i help you with that.. cowboy....