MANILA – A lawyer urged the Supreme Court (SC) to order Malacañang to disclose President Rodrigo Duterte’s health records following reports that he sought medical treatment in Singapore over the weekend.
Lawyer Dino De Leon has appealed yesterday to the high court to resolve his motion for reconsideration “in the interest of substantial justice and considering the urgency of the issue.”
“The health of the President, especially at a time like this, should rightfully be disclosed to the public,” De Leon said in his 10-page motion for reconsideration filed on Tuesday.
“The need for the nation to be protected from a feeble government is more pronounced in the middle of this pandemic… At the very least our people deserve to know if we have a leader who is still fit to lead the country,” he added.
In April, De Leon petitioned the SC to compel the Office of the President to release Duterte’s health records to the public, alleging that the nation’s leader appeared unwell in public addresses during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency.
The SC dismissed the petition saying the allegation that Duterte is seriously ill is “unsubstantiated and is based merely on petitioner’s surmises and conjectures regarding his perception of the declining health of the President.”
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque has denied that Duterte left the country over the weekend as he said that the Chief Executive is in “perpetual isolation” to keep him safe from COVID-19.
Senator Christopher “Bong” Go also shared a picture of the President having a meal with his family amid reports that he left the country as a proof of life on Monday. The President also held a public address later that night./PN
