Binay urges Duterte to reveal secret illness
Vice President Jejomar Binay on Friday dared Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to reveal the reason he had been flying from Davao City to Manila for regular checkups.
In an interview with reporters in Zamboanga del Norte on Friday, Binay challenged Duterte to bare his medical records to show the public that he was fit to run for president.
Boasting of his good health at age 73, Binay had disclosed to the media a doctor’s certificate declaring him fit to wage a national campaign.
“Basta’t ako ang naririnig ko, ‘yan ay maya’t-maya lumuluwas sa Maynila at nagpapagamot. Kaya laging nasa Maynila ‘yan,” Binay said.
Binay urged Duterte to issue a medical certificate to dispel rumors surrounding his health. Duterte had been rumored to be undergoing dialysis, which he had denied.
“Para madisprove … pakita niya, maglabas siya ng information na he is in the pink of health,” said Binay, who was also at one point rumored to be undergoing dialysis.
Article continues after this advertisementDuterte had accepted Binay’s challenge to reveal his medical records, but under one condition: that they switch doctors during the medical checkup.
Article continues after this advertisement“Basta maghubad siya sa harap ko para makita ng tao kung sino ang may sakit,” Duterte said in jest during a campaign sortie in San Miguel, Bulacan, on Wednesday.
“Basta ang doctor ko ang mag-examine sa kanya para walang dayaan at ang doctor niya ang mag-examine sa akin. Kasi kung doctor niya dayain niya yan e,” he added.
∙ Duterte to Binay: Let’s have a doctor swap
Duterte had once missed delivering a speech before a health group after suffering from a migraine attack.
∙ About to face health group, Duterte experiences migraine
Duterte later admitted having four ailments: acute bronchitis, a slipped disk from a motorcycle accident, Barrett’s esophagus, which affects the tissue lining along the esophagus, and Buerger’s disease, a constriction of the blood vessels caused by accumulation of nicotine.
∙ Duterte admits he has 4 ailments
Binay had said Duterte would not last a six-year presidency because of an ailment the latter has refused to disclose.
∙ Duterte too sick to last 6-year presidency, says Binay
In the same campaign sortie, Duterte said in jest that Binay’s hands trembled because of a sickness brought about by counting billions in kickbacks.
Binay was the subject of a year-long Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on allegations of millions of kickbacks from overpriced deals when he was Makati City mayor.
“Kasi nakita mo si Binay maglakad? Nakita niyo yung unang debate na din makahakbang?” Duterte said.
“Ewan ko kung ninenerbiyos o yan ang dahilan basta magnakaw ng pera di na hihinto yan … Sa bilangan ng pera? Mahirap kasi ang mag-ano (bilang) ka ng bilyon?” he added.
Sought for his reaction, Binay only laughed and said: “Doktor pa pala ito.”
He said he found it illogical to have an ailment brought about by counting money.
“Maraming papel ‘to si berdugo. Pati ba naman ‘yong pangangatal ng kamay ko. Pero, ngayon lang ako nakarinig na ‘yong pangangatal ng kamay ay ang dahilan ay kabibilang ng pera. Susmaryosep. ‘Di ko na malaman ang logic dito. Litong-lito na ito sa pagsagot,” Binay said.
The Vice President launched his fiercest attacks against Duterte after the latter led the latest Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia surveys.
Binay once praised Duterte as a good candidate for president for having years of experience as local government chief executive in Davao City.
Binay’s admiration for Duterte, however, soon turned into vilification as he minced no words in urging the public not to vote for the mayor, who he said was a “murderer” and a “butcher” for his alleged links to the Davao Death Squad.
READ: Binay twits Duterte: Your killing of the poor isn’t debatable
While he is hailed for his anticrime crusade, Duterte has been linked to an alleged gang of assassins purportedly responsible for the deaths of 1,000 suspected criminals in Davao City since he became mayor in 1988.
“They say I am the death squad? True, that is true,” Duterte once said in a television interview, admitting his ties to the alleged group. RC
