The Malacañang has debunked as “misinformation” fresh claims by an opposition lawmaker that President Duterte was suffering poor health.
In a news conference yesterday (Saturday, August 25), Congressman Gary Alejano said: “The president is old, and he is not healthy. So what happens if he doesn’t have the capacity to run the country?
“We have plenty of information on the status of his health and we have a lot of eyes and ears around the president, and I think he knows this.
For the sake of transparency, they need to tell the status of his (Duterte’s) health to the public because it has an implication on national security.”
However, the claim was debunked by the president’s spokesman Harry Roque today, who pointed out that the president had made numerous public appearances over the past week.
“The president has always been forthright about his condition,” he said in a statement. “What he is experiencing is typical of people of his age.
“Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano’s misinformation is certainly in aid of election. We hope the people will judge him accordingly.”
As we reported last week, similar claims about the president’s health were made by Jose Sison, the founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
His assertion, made on Facebook, that the president had fallen into a coma last weekend were swiftly countered by Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go, who released a Facebook like recording on Monday enjoying supper “with a beautiful lady” called Vernice.
Roque also denied the claims, saying: “Stop wishing him ill, as far as his health is concerned. Because every time you wish him ill, he only gets stronger. The president is as strong as a horse.”
The president has recently described his health is in “good condition”, but admitted he had been experiencing “perpetual pain” due to injuries from a motorcycle accident some years ago.
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