Duterte makes first public appearance after week-long absence
Credit to Author: CATHERINE S. VALENTE, TMT| Date: Tue, 21 May 2019 11:26:44 +0000
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday resurfaced in public after a week-long absence as speculation swirled regarding his health.
Duterte welcomed Thailand’s Ambassador-Designate to the Philippines Vasin Ruangprateepsaeng who presented his credentials in Malacañang.
In his speech, the President apologized to Ruangprateepsaeng for being two minutes late.
“I was just signing some papers. But I am very happy of your your presence today and congratulations to your new deployment,” Duterte said.
“I’m sure that you would learn so many things along the way. You won’t have a hard time. We are similar in all things, including our desire to have a peaceful southeast Pacific region,” he said.
Duterte’s prolonged absence from the public eye fueled fresh speculations about his health.
On Sunday, rumors swirled that the President was confined at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City, the same hospital where he underwent endoscopy last year.
Malacañang denied the rumors but it was not clear whether Duterte underwent medical check-up.
The President was last seen in public on May 13, when he cast his vote for the midterm polls and entertained some questions from the media in Davao City.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo insisted that Duterte did not hide matters concerning his health, saying that the 74-year-old leader would “tell us” if he has a serious illness.
“You must remember that the President is very transparent on his health condition. When during the presidential campaign, he was already telling us na matanda na siya. Lahat ng sakit nang ganoong edad, meron siya (that he is old. He has all illnesses of people his age). And then when he assumed the presidency, sinabi na niya, inisa-isa niya yung sakit niya (he said it, he enumerated all his illnesses),” Panelo said.
“In other words, kung talagang serious (if there is anything serious about his health), he would tell us. Pero kung sakit ng ulo lang, migraine, hindi naman kailangang sabihin yun (But if it’s just a headache, migraine, he doesn’t need to inform the public),” he added.
Duterte is going on a visit to Tokyo from May 29 to 31 on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s invitation. This will be Duterte’s third visit to Japan since he assumed the presidency. He first visited Japan in 2016 and again in 2017.
Last year, the President said he underwent a medical checkup to examine a “growth” found in his digestive tract.
Duterte said he needed to undergo endoscopy and colonoscopy because he was suffering from Barret’s esophagus, a complication of gastroesophageal reflux disease.
The President previously revealed that he has Buerger’s disease, a condition that causes constriction of the blood vessels due to nicotine. He had also admitted to having a misaligned spine as result of a motorcycle accident years ago.
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