Pangilinan: Public deserves to know condition of Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Francis Pangilinan on Friday said that the public deserved to know the truth if President Rodrigo Duterte has a medical condition preventing him from fulfilling his duties as chief executive as the government tried to squelch speculations that he was seriously ill.

The statement of Pangilinan, the president of the opposition Liberal Party (LP), came after Malacañang released photos of the president on Thursday night showing that he was well enough to attend to government papers and travel to his hometown of Davao City.

Although Malacañang’s explanation that the president was tired and needed rest was acceptable, the four-day absence of the septuagenarian Duterte was a “concern” especially because of the situation the country was facing, according to Pangilinan.

Pangilinan said that the government should be transparent about the president’s health situation especially if he had a condition which could prevent him from doing his duties as commander in chief.

“Having said that, if the President has a medical condition preventing him from fulfilling his duties as commander in chief and is not simply ‘just resting’ then the public deserves to know the truth,” Pangilinan said.

On Thursday night, Bong Go, a special aide to the president, released photos showing Duterte attending to some state papers at Bahay Pagbabago and preparing to depart for Davao City at Villamor Airbase in Pasay City.

Amid speculations about his health, Pres. Duterte seen in photos at Bahay Pagbabago just released by Sec. Bong Go. | via @alexisbromero pic.twitter.com/fwPn16CZDS

— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) June 15, 2017

Another batch of photos of Pres. Duterte. Taken at the Villamor Air Base today. Photos released by PCOO Asec. Bam Garcia @PhilstarNews pic.twitter.com/aBo8D5Gq7F

— Rosette Adel (@rosette_adel) June 15, 2017

The release of the pictures came as calls for transparency about the chief executive’s medical condition went on crescendo following the absence of the president since Monday.

The Palace said that the president was well and was just resting considering the grueling schedule he had in the past months.

This is not the first time that the president has receded from the public eye.

In September last year, Duterte missed meetings at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Laos.

The president also missed his first family photo with leaders of the members of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as well as the leaders’ retreat and gala dinner in Peru.