Duterte to go on foreign trips despite docs’ advice

President Duterte will attend local and foreign events in the coming days despite his doctors’ advice to limit his physical activities so he can recover from the effects of his motorcycle accident last week, Malacañang said on Thursday.

Mr. Duterte fell off a motorcycle on Thursday last week, sustaining bruises and scratches.

He traveled to Tokyo on Tuesday to attend the enthronement of Emperor Naruhito, but “unbearable pain” in his lower back forced him to cut his trip short and return home to see his doctors.

Mr. Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, represented him at the banquet that followed the enthronement ceremony.

‘Muscle spasms’

Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, a former longtime aide to Mr. Duterte, told reporters on Wednesday that doctors had found the pain to be due to “muscle spasms” and prescribed painkillers.

They advised the President to rest and avoid strenuous physical activities, Go said.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Mr. Duterte resumed work on Thursday, and was expected to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua for a discussion of China-funded infrastructure projects in the Philippines.

Mr. Duterte is also expected to attend the 35th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and Related Summits in Thailand from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.

A picture shared by Go showed Mr. Duterte leaning on a cane as they wait for the enthronement ceremony in a Tokyo hotel on Tuesday.

Go said the President asked him to buy the cane after they arrived in Tokyo early on Tuesday.

‘Unceremoniously ignored’

On Thursday, a certain Ding Velasco claimed on Facebook that there was no “unbearable pain,” and that the whole affair was “concocted in order to gain sympathy for an ailing President doing his duty even in grave physical pain & not to be publicly assailed for having been unceremoniously ignored in Japan.”

Velasco said Mr. Duterte was “relegated down the line” in the seating arrangement for the enthronement ceremony,” which he claimed was due to the “impetuous, last-minute confirmation of his attendance to the event.”

Velasco also said Mr. Duterte was seated among the diplomats and not among the heads of state, and that his delegation decided it was humiliating.

He said “nobody of high rank from the Japanese foreign ministry” welcomed Mr. Duterte at the airport, and that the delegation realized it was a consequence of the “last-minute decision to attend” the event.

‘Allegations false’

“Absolutely false,” Panelo told reporters in a text message. He did not elaborate.

A Palace statement on Monday said Mr. Duterte and his delegation were welcomed by former Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhide Ishikawa and Philippine Ambassador to Japan Jose Laurel V, among other senior government officials.

Assistant Foreign Secretary Eduardo Menez on Thursday said he verified the contents of Velasco’s post with the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, which reported that “the allegations are false.” —WITH A REPORT FROM CHRISTIA MARIE RAMOS