Duterte mocks Alejano: I will go to Israel to have my stomach, brain opened

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday scoffed at the allegation of Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano that he will visit Israel next week for health reasons.

Duterte will be in Israel from September 2 to 5. This will be followed by a trip to neighboring Jordan, which has committed to donate two attack helicopters to the Philippines.

"Kung operahan nila ang utak ko dun eh di mas maganda. Wala mang problema," the President told reporters in jest after he led the National Heroes Day celebration in Taguig City. "I can have my stomach opened, chest opened and my brain (opened)."

Duterte said he will visit the two countries to check on the welfare of thousands of overseas Filipino workers as he expressed concern over the security situation there.

The President said he will bring along with him some retiring military and police officials as "my gift to them for serving the country well."

Alejano claimed over the weekend that Duterte is "seriously ill," citing a source who is supposedly close to the President.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, however, dismissed Alejano's allegation as "misinformation in aid of election. The opposition congressman is running for senator in the May 2019 midterm polls.

Roque said the 73-year-old Duterte has always been "forthright" about his health condition. He also cited the President's two public appearances last week.

"Sa awa ng Diyos kaya ko pang umibig," Duterte said.

Questions on Duterte's health came to fore after Jose Maria Sison, Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman and National Democratic Front of the Philipppines chief political consultant, claimed in a Facebook post that Duterte had reportedly lapsed into a coma.

To disprove Sison’s claim, Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go videoed Duterte on August 20 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.

"I am tired of listening to [Sison]," the President said. — RSJ, GMA News