Roque says ‘stress’ of being Duterte spokesman made him leave Cabinet

The stress of being the official mouthpiece of President Rodrigo Duterte was one of the reasons why he decided to part ways with the administration, senatorial aspirant Harry Roque said Thursday.

“Sa totoo lang po mula nung ako ay naging spokesperson, ako po ay diabetic, grabe po talaga ‘yung stress, ‘yung sugar ko hindi naging normal,” the former Presidential spokesman said in an interview over Radyo Inquirer.

“So sabi ko kay President, talagang health reasons, hindi makakabalik,” he said, adding that he had long decided to run for the Senate.

Roque declared on Monday that he would be running as a party-list representative of Luntiang Pilipinas in the 2019 midterm elections.

READ: Roque drops Senate bid, to run as party-list rep in 2019

But two days after, he showed up at the Commission on Elections headquarters in Manila to officially file his candidacy – not as a party-list representative but as senator.

Earlier, the President requested Roque to defer his election plans and stay in the Cabinet. He offered the former Kabayan representative a new job, supposedly the soon-to-be created post of Press Secretary.

Although thankful of the offer, Roque said he had no intention of staying in an appointive position, noting that as a spokesperson, he has no personal views and was the target of attacks as he shielded the President.

Hindi ko na kaya na ako ‘yung binabanatan ng lahat, masyadong sobra namang stress na iyon. Pagdating sa suporta, pagdating sa pagbebenta, nandiyan pa rin po tayo walang nagbabago. Ayaw ko lang na ako lang ang binabato palagi, dahil napakahirap,” he said.  /muf

READ: Roque: It’s time to be my own person again