Duterte cancer-free – Go
President Rodrigo Duterte has tested negative for cancer, Malacanañg said on Tuesday amid a clamor for the Chief Executive to reveal his state of health to the public as required by the Constitution.
The President’s top aide, Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, made the statement after some Cabinet officials revealed that the President himself told them that his medical tests turned out “negative” for cancer.
Rodrigo Duterte. File Photo
“Sorry to disappoint his critics. the President is very healthy and in high spirits. I know for a fact that he is cancer-free. He will finish his term and live beyond 2022. Tuloy lang po ang aming trabaho. Salamat po sa inyong concern sa kanyang kalusugan (We will continue our work. Thank you for your concern on his health). I assure you, there is nothing to worry about,” Go said.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. echoed Go’s statement.
“It is not serious. It does not have to be divulged,” he said.
“We will abide with the provision of the Constitution. We take it that whatever the President has is not serious for the constitutional provision to apply. So we leave it at that,” Roque told reporters during a press briefing.
The Constitution states that “in case of serious illness of the President, the public shall be informed of the state of his health.”
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday afternoon declared that he tested negative for cancer.
“Hindi pa ako cancerous (I’m not yet cancerous), so don’t be afraid to go near me. I will not contaminate you,” he told reporters .
“It’s negative. They (doctors) had a suspicion so they had this specimen taken out from both the oesophageal tube and here,” he said, pointing to his butt.
“They just wanted a retake. Nothing serious actually,” he said.
Acting Interior Secretary Eduardo Año told reporters Duterte volunteered the information on his health in the middle of their Cabinet meeting on Monday night.
“Sinabi niya na, ‘by the way I had my test and the test is negative’ (He said, ‘By the way I had my test and the test is negative’),” Año said.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri agreed that the President has no serious ailment, saying the Chief Executive was in high spirits when he met some senators on Monday.
“The President is as strong as an ox. We saw it yesterday. He was in good spirits. It’s not cancer,” Zubiri told reporters.
“When it comes to cancer, negative. The President said he has polyps, (and) there’s growth in his intestines. But it’s benign,” the senator added.
“He was in high spirits. He was very happy yesterday cracking a lot of jokes. Natuwa siya kasi katabi niya si Sen. Loren (Legarda), tuwang-tuwa siya na may katabi siyang magandang senador. At nangako siya kay Sen. Loren ikakampanya siya sa Antique (He felt glad that he’s beside Sen. Loren, he’s so happy that he was beside a beautiful senator. And he promised Sen. Loren that he will help campaign for her in Antique),” Zubiri said.
‘Confidential and private’
Roque said the President “wants his medical information to remain confidential and private.”
“That’s not the complete statement of the President and I believe it’s not for me to repeat the complete statement of the President because it is covered by confidentiality,” Roque said.
Roque earlier said he was considering resigning from his post after being kept in the dark on the President’s whereabouts, including his October 3 visit to the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan for some tests.
Concern over 73-year-old Duterte’s health grew when he himself alluded to possibly having cancer in an October 4 speech.
“I don’t know where I’m now physically. But I will tell you if it’s cancer, it’s cancer. And if it’s third stage, no more treatment. I will not prolong my agony in this office or anywhere,” he said.
Two days after the President’s checkup, Roque revealed that tests showed a “growth” in the Chief Executive’s digestive tract.
Critics have being calling for transparency regarding the President’s health – possibly through disclosing medical records or releasing a regular medical bulletin – after Duterte himself admitted to having several medical conditions.
Duterte is the oldest person ever to be elected president in the country and speculation about his health has cropped up regularly since he took office in 2016.
The President has said that he suffers from daily migraines and other ailments, including Buerger’s disease, an illness that affects the veins and the arteries of the limbs, and is usually due to smoking.
He also has Barrett’s esophagus, a complication of gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Under the Philippine Constitution, if a sitting president dies in office, or is permanently disabled or removed through impeachment, the vice president takes over.
But in his speech on Thursday, Duterte said he was unwilling to step down if that meant handing over the presidency to Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo whom he described as a “very weak” leader who lacks skills.
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