MANILA, Philippines — As President Rodrigo Duterte denied rumors on his health, he said another problem the country is facing is that there are two claimants to the presidency.
“Sasabihin ko sa inyo na may problema rin tayong isa, there is a pretender to the throne, assuming that I die within maybe tomorrow, next year, next time,” Duterte said in a speech on Wednesday.
“There are two claimants to the presidency. Ang isa nag-organize na at he has claimed that he has deposed me presidential candidate… si Pamatong… Eh, ngayon nandiyan si Leni, he said.
Duterte said suspended lawyer Elly Pamatong claimed that he already took over the presidency while the other claimant based on the Constitution is Vice President Leni Robredo. The president said the law states that Robredo is the successor.
Last June 17, a video of Pamatong announcing that he assumed the presidency went viral. Pamatong has a reputation for stunts like tossing spikes on Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue in 2004, which damaged vehicles on one of the capital's main thoroughfares. He was also arrested in 2014 over a bombing plot foiled outside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
In the video, Pamatong said that he “assumed full-fledged powers of the presidency” since Duterte’s post had supposedly been vacant since June 13 citing problems with the president's candidacy papers.
The description of the video also indicated that Pamatong received "reliable information that Duterte is either dead or dying."
Self-proclaimed US Armed Forces in the Far East general Pamatong was declared a nuisance canddiate by the Commission on Elections for the third time in January 2016. Pamatong appealed his presidential candidacy before the Supreme Court, which upheld his disqualification.
Robredo has not announced any claims to the presidency and has said that Duterte had important reasons for his absence during the Philippine Independence Day ceremony.
Duterte has since denied allegations of serious illness and clarified that he was just resting.