President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is welcomed by Philippine Air Force officials during his visit at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on June 15, 2017. Moreover, to quell rumors that the President is sick, Special Assistant to the President, Bong Go, also shared photos of the President working in Balay Pagbabago. PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
Hours after Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go released two photos of President Duterte in an apparent bid to quash wild talk that the Chief Executive has serious medical condition, Malacañang on Thursday released another set of pictures of the President.
This time, the presidential photos sent to the media Thursday night showed Duterte smiling and saluting Philippine Air Force officials at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.
“These ones taken during his visit to Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Thursday, June 15, 2017,” the Malacañang photo caption read, without mentioning the time of the snapshots.
The President was scheduled to leave for Davao City on Thursday.
Latest word was that he arrived in Davao City past 8 p.m.
Earlier Thursday, Go released two photos to show that the President was not ill as the public speculated.
“That’s just now,” Go said, referring to the photos he sent to reporters. He said the photos were taken at Bahay Pagbabago (Bahay Pangarap) at 5:52 p.m.
Duterte, 72, has not been seen in public since Monday and missed a scheduled appearance at the annual Independence Day celebrations at Rizal Park, sparking speculation about the state of his health.
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a Palace briefing that the President was “just tired.”
“The President is well. The President just needs… after all, you have to consider that he has been on the road for at least 23 days in fulfilling his martial law supervision. So it has been really brutal so we have to allow him this time of rest,” Abella said.
“Well, you know, he is taking some time off. I cannot really give you definite date but he’s just taking some time off to rejuvenate. Let’s just put it this way, that he’s resting for some time,” he added.