Leni wishes Duterte good health

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Leni Robredo is wishing for the good health of President Duterte while militant lawmakers from the House of Representatives are urging Malacañang to make public his true state of health after the 71-year-old leader complained recently of back pains and migraine.  

“We wish that whatever health issues the President has right now, he would be able to overcome,” the Vice President said in an interview in Cavite yesterday. 

Duterte on Monday admitted having health issues, including a migraine that he endures every day.

“He needs to be healthy for us because he has the mandate to lead the country,” Robredo said. 

The President talked about his health during the Wallace Business Forum dinner at Malacañang.

But the Vice President cried foul over Duterte’s remark that she could be wishing his plane would crash.

Robredo is the constitutional successor of the President in case something happens to him.  

After receiving a note they only had a few minutes “for clear skies” to fly out of Bukidnon where he attended a groundbreaking ceremony recently, Duterte read the note out loud and said, “Di ba ’yan ang gusto niyang si Leni? Magdasal na mahulog ’yan (Isn’t that what Leni wants? She’s praying that the plane would crash)... When it is time, it is time.”

Robredo said, “I didn’t find it (remark that I want him dead) funny.”

“My husband died in a plane crash, that should not be used as a joke,” she said.

Robredo’s husband, former interior secretary Jesse Robredo, died in a plane crash in 2012.  

Earlier this week, the President accused the “yellows,” referring to Robredo’s partymates in the Liberal Party and its supporters, of plotting his ouster so Robredo could succeed him. 

Robredo has denied she or the LP is planning to oust the President.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlo Isagani Zarate told reporters in a news conference it would be best for Malacañang to come out with a medical bulletin to update the public on Duterte’s condition.

His colleague, Rep. Ariel Casilao from party-list Anakpawis, made a similar call, saying he wanted to be sure Duterte could and would be able to perform his duties, most especially since the President doubted if he could stand the rigors of his mandate for the next six years.