Palace says Duterte ‘in pink of health’

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang has again dismissed speculations about the true state of health of President Duterte, as it prepares to showcase his administration’s accomplishments in his first year in office.

“First and foremost, he is alive and well. He is very well. He is just busy doing what he really needs to do,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said at a press briefing at Malacañang yesterday. Duterte is to mark his first year in office on June 30.

“The President, as you’ve seen, is very much in the public eye but being out of the public eye, that is when he really is able to do his work – he signs papers, he reads, he consults. He is actually very busy,” Abella said.

“But the thing that is very important to note that he is on top of the situation. He is aware of what is happening, he is updated regularly, he reads, he listens to this. It is just his working style, it was not to cast aspersions… but this is the way he works,” he said.

In a radio interview earlier yesterday, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar assured the public that the 72-year-old Duterte is “in the pink of health,” but “needed to rest” and have “some private time.”

The President, he said, was expected yesterday to preside over the board meeting of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) at Malacañang.

Duterte was also set to witness the presentation of a P15-million donation for Marawi City. At 7 p.m., he was to lead the Eid’l Fitr celebration at Malacañang.

According to Andanar, the President has been getting updates on developments, including the groundbreaking of the planned train system from Tutuban to Clark.

Andanar added that Duterte was in his home province in Davao in the past few days.

The President was at Malacañang Monday for the celebration of the Hariraya with the Muslim community.

He assured the public that there is nothing to worry about Duterte’s state of health. Just like a chief executive officer of a private company, the President does not have to be in the public eye all the time while doing his task.

“Considering the size of our bureaucracy, the President has to talk to a number of people,” he said in Filipino.

Duterte has not been seen in public since he visited an evacuation center in Iligan City last June 20. He also visited a military hospital in Cagayan de Oro City to check on the condition of soldiers on the same day. – With Edith Regalado