Presidential candidates Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines — Presidential candidate, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, has accepted the challenge of his rival, Vice President Jejomar Binay, to bare his medical records and prove he is physically fit to run the country.
Duterte, however, has one condition: each of them would be examined by each other’s doctor.
“Yes, basta maghubad siya sa harap ko at makita ng tao kung sino ang may sakit (Yes as long as he would undress in front of me and everyone else. Let’s see who is sick),” Duterte told reporters in an interview in Bulacan on Wednesday.
Binay claimed the 71-year-old Davao City mayor would not be able to finish his six-year-term due to sickness.
But Duterte responded to Binay’s allegation by again making fun of him.
“Have you seen Binay’s hands during the debate last time? I am not sure if he was just nervous or if he was really sick,” the comic Duterte said showing both his hands shaking.
“Maybe that is a thief’s disease,” the mayor said, drawing laughter from journalists.
“Mahirap kasi magbilang lalo na bilyon bilyon yun. (It is difficult to count billions of money),” he said
Duterte said he would willingly put his medical history to public scrutiny but the doctor who should be examining Binay should be Duterte’s doctor and vice versa.
The Davao City mayor has admitted that he has Buerger’s disease, a rare disease of the arteries and veins as a result of his smoking.
“He has no ailments except the Buerger’s disease. That was why he had stopped smoking,” Duterte’s former wife Elizabeth Zimmerman said at the celebration of her 68th birthday in Cebu.
Duterte announced previously that he wouldn’t be able to finish the six-year term, citing health issues and possible threats to his life.
He, however, denied in previous interviews that he was suffering from throat cancer.
Rumor has it that Duterte has been undergoing dialysis twice a week.
Asked about that, Duterte told reporters: “Nasaan?” baring both his arms where dialysis treatment would usually leave scars. SFM
RELATED STORIES
Duterte to Binay: Let’s have a doctor swap
Duterte admits he has 4 ailments