Roque to those spreading rumors about Duterte’s health: ‘Magbigti na lang po silang lahat’

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Wednesday advised the people spreading rumors that President Rodrigo Duterte is in poor health to “commit suicide.”

Roque was with Duterte during a convention of local chief executives on Tuesday in Cebu City where the President spoke for around two hours, one of his longest speeches in recent days.

The Palace official said Duterte was in good shape and in high spirits during the event.

“Para makita ng bayan ang Presidente na masigla at walang sakit at kahapon po ay nakita natin siya sa Cebu na ganyan nga po ang kanyang estado, masigla, walang sakit, palabiro,” Roque said in an interview on radio dzRH.

Roque then suggested to those who spoke ill about the President’s health to kill themselves.

“Ang suhestyon ko sa kanila, magbigti na lang po silang lahat, dahil hindi po mangyayari iyong gusto nila,” he said.

He said Duterte, a lawyer, is aware of his constitutional mandate to inform the public in case he is suffering from a serious medical condition. 

“Hindi po comatose ang Presidente, at kung magiging comatose naman po ang Presidente eh siguro hindi na kinakailangang magbigay ng impormasyon, dahil makikita mo na lang nakahiga iyong Presidente at hindi na kayang makaganap ng kanyang katungkulan,” Roque 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 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.

But even with Duterte's appearance in Cebu, Sison on Wednesday refused to apologize for his “cautious and well-qualified statement.”

Sison said he hopes for Duterte's good health beyond the end of his term in 2022 so that the President can supposedly face trial for inciting impunity in his war on drugs.  — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News