MANILA – The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition compelling President Rodrigo Duterte to release his medical records to the public.
In a resolution that was made public on Wednesday, the High Court justices threw out the petition of lawyer Dino De Leon as it was based on “conjectures and unsubstantiated.”
“Based on the allegations in the petition itself, petitioner failed to establish the existence of a clear legal right that was violated, or that he is entitled to the writ of mandamus prayed for,” the SC said.
De Leon filed a petition for mandamus earlier this year asking that the Office of the President be ordered to disclose President Duterte’s health records since he assumed office.
The lawyer alleged that Duterte had been absent from engagements for health reasons, had “prolonged absences” from the public view, and appeared incoherent in COVID-19 public addresses.
He also cited the President’s several illnesses, such as Buerger’s disease, Barrett’s esophagus, gastroesophageal reflux disease, spinal issues, daily migraines, and myasthenia gravis.
In response to the petition, the SC said these were “merely based on what he perceived from the online news articles discussing the President’s illnesses,” which the SC has consistently characterized such articles as “hearsay evidence.”
“After a punctilious evaluation of the petition, the Court finds that the averments and arguments in the petition failed to establish a prima facie case for mandamus, i.e., that the reliefs sought constitute ministerial duties on the part of respondents, and that there is a clear legal right on petitioner’s part to demand the performance of these ministerial duties,” the SC said.
“Further, the President’s regular televised addresses to the nation as regards the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic show that the President has been actively performing his official duties,” the court added.
“Apparently, petitioner’s allegation that the President 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,” it further said./PN
