Ex-Senator Tatad denies saying Duterte has cancer

Former Senator Francisco "Kit" Tatad has denied saying President Rodrigo Duterte has cancer, a report on News To Go said Friday.

Tatad said he never once claimed that Duterte is cancer-stricken, and advised him to read and not rely on information being fed to him.

In his newspaper column, Tatad said two sources had told him that Duterte underwent kidney transplant last month.

In a speech in Bulacan on Thursday,  Duterte lashed out and threatened to slap Tatad for making speculations about his health.

"There's a border between press freedom and pagbabastos ng tao. Pag una kitang makita, iwasan mo ako. P—ina, sampalin kita," Duterte said in his speech.

In early 2017, Tatad speculated that Duterte went to a cancer hospital in China to seek treatment, prompting the President to deny that he is afflicted by the disease.

The 73-year-old leader 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. —KBK, GMA News