MANILA – Rodrigo Duterte tested negative for cancer, the President himself disclosed during a Cabinet meeting.
Duterte announced the results of the series of tests at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center last week to Cabinet members Monday night, Interior department officer-in-charge Eduardo Año said.
“He (Duterte) disclosed to us that the result of the test was negative, the one where they took samples from his intestines,” Año told reporters Tuesday in a forum in Ortigas.
“Sa Cabinet meeting, in the middle of the meeting, sinabi niya, ‘By the way, I have the result of my tests,’ and sabi niya the test is negative for cancer. So palakpakan kami,” Año added.
Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go supported Año’s statement, saying Duterte is healthy enough to complete his term.
“The President is OK, healthy and cancer-free,” Go said in a statement released on Tuesday. “He can finish his term and will live beyond his term.”
But Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque refused to confirm or deny Ano’s statement.
All he said was the President’s health condition is not that serious for the constitutional provision of publicly disclosing it to apply.
“President Duterte wants his medical information to remain confidential and private,” Roque told a media briefing. “We take it that whatever the President has is not serious for the constitutional provision to apply.”
Concerns on Duterte’s health surfaced last week when he admitted that he went to the hospital to have his Barrett’s esophagus checked whether or not it may lead to cancer.
In December 2016 the President claimed he was suffering from several health problems. He also admitted before that he was not getting a good night’s sleep because of a terrible back pain and that he used to take the drug Fentanyl to dull the pain.
Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison had claimed that the supposed darkening of Duterte’s face was a sign of a serious kidney ailment./PN
