DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said his throat and his tongue were perfectly all right, and then he lashed out at the person who posted on social media that he had throat cancer, saying he was someone suffering from “mental impotence.”
“You’re suffering from a mental impotence, you need to see a doctor,” Duterte said on his Sunday television program, Gikan sa Masa, para sa Masa, addressing journalist Philip Lustre Jr., who posted on his Facebook page on Saturday that he had heard from a “reliable source” that Duterte was suffering from throat cancer, and this was the reason he was hesitant to run for president in 2016.
“Your grammar is tolerable but there’s something wrong with your mind,” Duterte retorted. “If you want to know the truth, my throat is OK, including my tongue.”
Duterte, who reiterated he was not running for president, said he had always disclosed the state of his health to the public, including the fact that he has been suffering from a constriction of the blood vessels because of his former nicotine intake.
“I was warned [about this] by my doctor after I stopped smoking,”said Duterte, who has banned smoking in his city. “I suffered, that’s why I’m protecting all of you, including the children.”
The mayor said he has also not kept secret the recurring pain in his spine due to a motorcycle accident years ago.
“But even if it’s true I have throat cancer, it would be no ground for disqualification under election rules,” Duterte said. “Cancer has nothing to do with running for the presidency.”
Lustre sent this reaction to the Inquirer: “If I were wrong, a simple denial from one of his henchmen would be enough. But the overreaction by the mayor, his henchmen and his diehard fans in social media indicates their collective panic. I stand by what I wrote. I have an impeccable source who I believe knows the real score. (It) was not a concoction of my mind. It reportedly came from the mayor’s mouth.”
Added Lustre: “By the way, I wish to thank the mayor for making me a little famous.”—Germelina Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao