Sleep and rest: Rody takes time off until Sunday

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – It’s “rest time” for President Duterte until Sunday, with all his scheduled engagements for the week canceled.

The President had skipped the Independence Day rites last Monday purportedly due to exhaustion from his previous engagement late Sunday at the Villamor Air Base and Fort Bonifacio where he witnessed the arrival of the remains of soldiers slain in Marawi and condoled with their families.  He stayed at the Marine base at Fort Bonifacio until after midnight.

Before flying to Manila, Duterte visited wounded soldiers at Camp Evangelista, Cagayan de Oro City.

He begged off from attending an event of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) yesterday.

Sources said the President has been catching up on his sleep as he has been advised to take some rest.

“At 72, the President has been working non-stop for the past months and especially the past weeks, he also needs to slow down a bit,” a source told The STAR.

The same source clarified there is nothing to worry about the President’s health, although he really has to take some time off. But while on “rest mode,” the President is keeping abreast of developments in the country by reading briefing papers from his Cabinet.

Duterte has had a number of foreign trips since becoming President, the last of which – before he opted to disappear from public view – was in Russia. He had to cut short his Moscow visit after learning of the Maute rampage in Marawi.

Even senators admit the President needs rest and that there is nothing suspicious or worrisome about his prolonged absence from public engagements.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said if Duterte is indeed ill, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea should inform the public about his condition – a task required of him under the Constitution.

“If he (Duterte) is resting well, let him rest. No need to announce ‘the President is resting.’ What for? Hence, if there’s no announcement that he is sick why do we insist that he is sick? He is resting from the public eye. I see no issue at all,” Pimentel said in a text message to reporters.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito said all those concerned should just wait for any statement from Malacañang.

“Now is not the time to speculate on the health of the President. As I have been saying, let us show a united front in the face of the challenges before us. If there is anything we know of President Duterte, it is that he is honest, direct to the point and transparent,” Ejercito said.

In a statement, Pimentel also called on Filipinos to rally behind President Duterte in his effort “to bring back national honor and dignity.”

“It is under his leadership and vision that we must all rally around in order to achieve liberty, to bring home those who are sacrificing overseas because they have no opportunities or alternatives here at home,” Pimentel said.

The thrust of the Duterte administration, he explained, is to provide the basic needs of the people “who have yet to experience any assistance or upliftment from their elected and appointed officials.” 

Pimentel noted that 119 years after the Philippines won its independence, the country is still facing “a continuing struggle and a different set of oppressors.”

“Real freedom must mean real independence, not just freedom from foreign intervention but, more importantly, freedom from poverty and other social problems and freedom from lawlessness and also terrorism,” he said.  – With Marvin Sy, Paolo Romero