‘With his zest for work, Duterte can take power naps’

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte attends the ASEAN-Plus Three (APT) summit on the sidelines of the 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Singapore on November 15, 2018. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)

Better to catch a few winks than be caught dozing off?

Malacañang on Friday fumed over comments that President Duterte was either “too sick or too lazy” after he failed to show up at several Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit events in Singapore supposedly to take “power naps.”

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo described the criticism by opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV as “a product of a witless, if not a malicious mind.”

The official said it was reasonable that the President grabbed the chance “to catch on some sleep and energize himself and avoid the embarrassment of dozing off during one of the meetings as one head of state pitifully succumbed to due to the energy-sapping daily activities.”

“We assure our people that the President is more than able to fulfill his commitment to the nation,” Panelo said.

‘Too sick or too lazy’

Trillanes on Thursday said that Mr. Duterte was either “too sick or too lazy and irresponsible” for skipping the events, including meetings with leaders of Australia and Canada.

“Either way, that’s a big problem for our country,” said Trillanes, a former military mutineer who was pardoned after leading the Oakwood mutiny in 2003 and the Manila Peninsula siege in 2007.

In August, the President revoked the amnesty granted in 2011 by the Aquino administration to Trillanes and ordered the senator’s arrest.

Trillanes clueless

In his statement, Panelo said Trillanes was clueless about Mr. Duterte’s responsibilities, “not having been given the enormous constitutional duty of governing the country.”

He said Trillanes had been “undeservingly released from jail” and “continues to perform acts against the constituted authorities, even using the Senate to shield him from his criminal acts.”

In contrast, Panelo said, the President “administers to the affairs of the state without regard to time and condition…” and “despite the lingering pain caused by an accident that he constantly endures.”

“With this kind of zest for work it becomes unavoidable that the President loses sleep that nourishes the body. In such a situation he will have no recourse but to take power naps between official activities,” he said.