Duterte still on private time a day after skipping June 12 rites

President Rodrigo Duterte continued to have no public engagement on Tuesday, a day after skipping his supposed first Independence Day rites as Chief Executive.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella, nonetheless, said Duterte was in "excellent health" despite a "brutal schedule."

"We know that he has private time. Let’s all wish him well," Abella said when asked about Duterte's activities on Tuesday.

Abella blamed a hectic schedule that forced Duterte to take a break on Monday.

He denied that Duterte took a leave because it was a medical advice.

“The President is actually in excellent health except for the fact that his schedules have been brutal. I mean, you have to credit the President considering everything, that he has been actually honoring the military dead, civilian dead, and he has been actually going around,” Abella said.

“In fact he would have wanted to be at the symbolic [flag] raising and honoring of the dead. However, the fact is he was already doing it for the rest of the week. So I think we need to allow him (to) rest. He was actually on top of the situation but he also needs rest,” he added.

Duterte had been visiting military camps, hospitals, and wakes since he declared martial law in Mindanao to quell the ISIS-inspired Maute forces in Marawi City.

On Sunday, he visited wounded soldiers in Cagayan de Oro City. 

He late joined the families of the slain soldiers late in the evening at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City for the transfer of their remains. —NB, GMA News