Palace on Duterte: He’s well but very busy

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang assured the public that the President was well and focusing on work although he had not been seen in public since a police anniversary event in Camp Crame on Aug. 9.

“I just talked to him,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo told reporters during a gathering of Chinese-Filipino businessmen in Quezon City on Saturday.

“He really has a lot to do. He has a lot of paperwork, private meetings and courtesy calls. So he’s very busy,” he said.

Panelo explained that the Chief Executive had to catch up with paper work that had piled up and he had to spend a lot of time going through many documents.

He joked that the President was OK so long as he could still be heard cursing.

Lot of meetings

The Palace official said that the President would likely be seen more frequently next week.

“I saw his schedule next week and he has a lot of public meetings,” Panelo said, dismissing rumors that the President was in the hospital again.

“He is always OK. He will be the first one to tell us if he’s not,” he added.