Duterte explains darkening skin, claims Sison played into his hands

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday claimed to have fed Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison, who recently said the chief executive was in comatose state, wrong information about his health.

Duterte said Sison “played into his hands” as the President apparently admitted making exaggerations about his health to bluff the communist leader.

“Alam mo si Sison, pumasok talaga. He played into my hands. You are familiar with my language. Bastos ako,” Duterte said in a speech in Davao City.

“‘O kumusta ka Mayor?’ ‘Ah wala may cancer ako. Third stage ako. I don’t know if I can.’ That’s how I talk. But before I left Malacañang, I whispered something. I said tell him that I flew somewhere because I am suffering from kidney failure and my cancer is spreading,” he added.

“There was also a call. His [Duterte’s] eyes were already closed when he got into his chopper. Stupid Sison believed it.”

Questions on Duterte's health came to the fore after Sison claimed in a Facebook post on Sunday that Duterte had reportedly slipped into coma.

The communist leader said those who saw Duterte during the national convention of his San Beda Law fraternity Lex Talionis Fraternitas on August 18 “reported that the darkness of his face had become aggravated from its appearance the other day and that his walk and handshake had become more unstable.”

To disprove Sison’s claim, Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go videoed Duterte on Monday night on Facebook Live having dinner with Frances Veronica "Vernice" Victorio, a former commissioner of the Climate Change Commission.

Duterte also hit back at Sison, saying the communist leader was the one who was sick and was abusing the privileges allegedly given to him by The Netherlands where he is seeking asylum as a political refugee since 1987.

The President, in his speech, also explained the reason for the darkening skin on his face.

“Look at what he [Sison] is now. Instead of focusing on the betterment of the movement, he is saying things like my face looks burned. Whose skin wouldn’t darken? I’m the one who likes to roam in the mountains,” he said.

“I don’t like using the product that women use because it melts on my face. I get irritated,” Duterte added. “It started during the elections.”

Sison had refused to apologize for his "cautious and well-qualified statement" about the health condition of the President, who admitted on Tuesday that he is suffering from "perpetual pain" due to a spinal injury caused by a motorcycle accident.

Sison said he wanted Duterte's good health to last beyond the end of his term in 2022 so that the President could supposedly face trial for inciting impunity in his war on drugs. —NB/RSJ, GMA News