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Palace: Duterte wouldn't have bared medical tests if 'serious'


President Rodrigo Duterte wouldn't have admitted undergoing endoscopy and colonoscopy procedures recently if they were 'serious,' Malacañang said Monday, describing the tests as "routine."

"Routine po 'yan just to find out kung merong bago," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque told reporters. "Kung seryoso po 'yan hindi naman aaminin ni Presidente."

Roque said there was "nothing extraordinary" on the medical tests Duterte went through which the President himself disclosed before a gathering of gastroenterologists in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, last Friday.

Endoscopy is a nonsurgical procedure used to examine a person's digestive tract while colonoscopy is an examination used to detect changes or abnormalities in the large intestine (colon) and rectum.

Roque, when pressed by a reporter on his remark, clarified that the President's pronouncements showed he had "no qualms" telling the public about the tests.

'No big deal'

"To him it was so routine na he had no qualms telling everyone, the whole world that he he had it. I think human nature naman 'yan. It was no big deal to disclose it," Roque said.

He said Duterte's hectic schedule was proof that the chief executive is not suffering from a serious medical condition, adding the President will comply with the constitutional mandate to inform the public in case of serious illness.

"Of course, the president is transparent. He will not cling on if he's dying, gravely ill," Roque said.

Duterte, 73, previously revealed that he has Buerger's disease, a condition that causes constriction of the blood vessels due to nicotine, and Barrett's esophagus, a disease involving the tissue in the esophagus.

He had also admitted to having a misaligned spine as result of a motorcycle accident years ago.

In June, Duterte vomited during a flight from Seoul to Manila supposedly due to migraine. —KBK, GMA News

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