'Progressive cough' gets Duterte joking about cancer

President Rodrigo Duterte's coughing during his speech in Leyte on Wednesday got him joking about cancer.

“I don’t know, yung ubo ko mag pagkaprogressive, baka cancer ang p---- ina,” Duterte said in jest after his cough interrupted his speech before anti-insurgency stakeholders in Region 8.

[My cough is becoming progressive. It could be cancer.]

Duterte was diagnosed with Barrett's esophagus, a condition in which the lining of the esophagus is replaced by tissues similar to the lining of the intestine.

Duterte, himself, previously said in a speech that his doctors cautioned him to stop drinking liquor or eating fatty foods as his Barret’s might be near to stage one cancer.

But according to presidential spokesman Harry Roque, the medical advice was given to the 75-year-old Duterte “a long time ago.”

In his speech, Duterte discussed the barangay development program to end communist insurgency nationwide: “

"We implemented barangay development programs not only to address armed community conflict but also to improve the welfare of the citizens in their area, geographically isolated and disadvantaged," Duterte said.

The National Task Force - Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict in Eastern Visayas (NTF-RTF-ELCAC VIII) conducted its meeting at the Summit Hotel in Tacloban City.

The meeting allowed officials to tackle the socio-economic overview and security situation in Eastern Visayas. -NB, GMA News