Rody up and about after back pains

MANILA, Philippines – After complaining of migraine and back pains and missing a number of appointments last week, President Duterte is up and about and keeping his usual schedule.

“He was checked by his personal doctor and he was made to rest a few days ago because of a spinal problem. But he is already up and about. He is going around Luzon,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said over radio dzBB yesterday.

The President was given a tight schedule last week, including same-day appearances in distant provinces.

On Thursday, he missed a scheduled visit to the wake of PO1 Gary Cabaguing at the St. Peter Funeral Homes in Catbalogan, Samar. Cabaguing was killed while serving an arrest warrant on suspected drug pusher Ernesto Gonzales.

Duterte was also supposed to visit PO1 Nestor Villanueva who was confined at St. Paul’s Hospital in Tacloban City, Leyte.

Yesterday, he was scheduled to visit former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Lubao, Pampanga and join the celebration to honor the feast of St. Augustine – the town’s patron saint. Duterte didn’t make it, but it had nothing to do with his health.

Bad weather forced Duterte to cancel his plans, Marciano Paynor Jr., chief of the Presidential Protocol Office, said.

Paynor explained that the helicopter pilots made two probing flights and decided that the presidential helicopter could not proceed safely to Pampanga due to thick clouds and heavy rains.

Duterte promised to visit Arroyo on another day, he said.

The President explained his absence on Thursday as something related to the motorcycle crash he had more than 10 years ago. The crash resulted in a slipped disc in his spine.

He explained in a speech during the Eastern Mindanao Command’s 10th anniversary Friday that his “spinal thing (is) going crazy again” and giving him headaches.

The Chief Executive also admitted to vomiting on Thursday morning.

Duterte is expected early this morning at the Libingan ng mga Bayani to pay tribute to fallen soldiers as the country celebrates Araw ng Kagitingan.

He is also expected to fly to Tacloban and Catbalogan to make up for Thursday’s absence.