President Rodrigo Duterte (right) smiles and poses for a photograph with his top aide, Christopher ‘Bong’ Go, on June 15, 2017, to quell talk about his health after he missed the Independence Day rites on June 12, 2017. The photograph was taken at the Bahay ng Pagbabago (formerly Bahay Pangarap), Bong Go said. (PHOTO COURTESY OF BONG GO / MALACANANG PHOTO)
Former senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. said President Rodrigo Duterte is only human and should be given privacy if he is ill.
“[President Duterte] is a human being. Like the rest of us, he is subject to diseases to [which] human beings are prone,” Pimentel texted reporters.
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“While ill, he is entitled to [have] some respite from the glare of media cameras,” he added.
Pimentel, 83, said there is no need to see Duterte, 72, “being administered serums or medical procedures by his doctors.”
“We have to take Sec. (Martin) Andanar’s reports on the President’s condition. Anyway, the truth [will come] out at the appropriate time,” he explained.
Pimentel asked the public to pray for Duterte so that he will “soon be back on his feet and do his bounden duty to serve the best interests of our people.”
Duterte has not been seen in public since he visited Cagayan de Oro last Sunday. He skipped the Independence Day celebrations on Monday and only surfaced on Thursday, as shown in photos released by Malacañang, before flying to Davao City.
READ: LOOK: Who says Duterte is bedridden?
Section 12, Article 7 of the 1987 Constitution, however, states that “in case of serious illness of the President, the public shall be informed of the state of his health.” IDL/rga