President Rodrigo Duterte. Screengrab from PCOO / Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — After five years, eight months and 26 days as president, President Rodrigo Duterte said anyone who wants to take over his post was “gago” [a fool], but he feels fulfilled because “I can see the Philippines is OK.”
“I tell you, a person who aspires to be president is a fool [gago] … like me,” Duterte said at the opening of the cancer treatment facilities of Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City on Friday.
“When you get to study all documents of the Republic of the Philippines from all places, provinces and cities, you will lose your stamina,” said the President, who turns 77 on March 28.
Duterte was already 71 years old when he was elected president — the oldest among 15 other Philippine presidents — and admitted to having Barrett’s esophagus, Buerger’s disease, and myasthenia gravis even before he became president.
He also admitted suffering from chronic back pain because of a motorcycle accident and also admitted using fentanyl, a powerful and addictive opioid, to manage the pain.
In 2019, he cut short a trip to Japan, because of “unbearable pain” in his spine.
The president’s candor over his health has often fueled speculations about his health, particularly when he disappeared without explanation from the public eye. In April last year, Duterte was not seen for almost two weeks, but his aides insisted that he was “fit and healthy” despite his medical conditions.
With only 96 days remaining in his term, however, the president feels fulfilled.
“I’m coming home, God willing. I can see the Philippines is OK,” he said, insisting that he fulfilled his promises.
“I’m fulfilled in all things. I could not ask for more. If I ask for more, the Lord will tell me, ‘You son of a whore, you’re so greedy,’” he said.
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