Duterte sick? Just migraine, says Alan Cayetano

Davao Mayor and Presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano during the proclamation rally at the Moriones Plaza in Moriones Tondo.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Is Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte sick?

“Nothing serious, but he has a severe migraine” was how his running mate, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, explained the disappearance of Duterte a few minutes before he was supposed to address the convention of doctors at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Ortigas, Quezon City, Thursday afternoon.

Duterte, 70, who admitted in previous speeches that he was suffering from a bone illness and had to sometimes take pain-killers also failed to appear at an oath-taking in Club Intramuros in Manila before his proclamation rally in Tondo for supposedly a “bum stomach and was not feeling well.”

Duterte, standard-bearer of PDP-Laban in the May elections,  earlier explained that he had to press a vein beside his ear to “manage the pain.”

While on his way to the function room where he was invited as guest speaker of the Philippine Society of Hypertension and  Philippine Lipid and Atherosclerosis Society, the mayor suddenly stopped and leaned on the hallway wall.

At first, it looked like he stopped to comb his hair and received a last-minute briefing from his closest aide, Bong Go.

But suddenly, Duterte turned, followed by his security, and went straight to the elevator where he again had to lean on the wall before he entered the elevator.

Cayetano, who was at the venue, pitched in for Duterte and apologized to the audience of doctors for Duterte’s sudden attack of migraine.

Asked if Duterte had been checked by a doctor, Cayetano said no. “It’s just migraine, he just have to rest and sleep,” he said.

Dr. Dante  Morales, a renowned cardiologist and  one of the society officials, told the Inquirer that Duterte had been invited to address the annual convention because the group wanted to know about his plans for the medical and health sector.

“We already know about the peace and order. What we want to know were his plans for the health and medical programs,” Morales said.