Malacañang: Duterte will report to people if he develops cancer

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has no cancer and will report his condition to the people if ever he is diagnosed with a serious illness, according to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.

Roque said people were putting too much meaning into remarks made by the President on Monday, August 24, 2020, when he recounted his doctor’s warning that he should stop drinking because his Barrett’s esophagus was nearing stage 1 cancer.

According to Roque, the 75-year-old Duterte received the advice from the doctor a long time ago, even before he became president and that he heeded it and stopped drinking.

Just storytelling

“Rephrasing what the President said, he almost had cancer if he did not stop drinking, but he has since stopped drinking,” Roque said over CNN Philippines.

“As far as I know, there is no cancer, and as I said, if there is cancer and it is a serious illness, he will be reporting it to the people,” he added.

Roque said that if Duterte had stage 1 cancer and was getting treatment for it, there would have been adverse effects on his physical appearance.

Treatments like chemotherapy lead to hair loss and general weakening, “a condition you don’t really see in the President,” he said. “He is fit and healthy for a person of his age.”Asked about the possible growth found in the President’s digestive tract after a 2018 endoscopy, Roque said “whatever it is, it could not have been cancerous.”

“As you see, the condition of the President is he is fine,” he said.

People do not have to worry about lack of transparency on the part of the Chief Executive, Roque said.

‘We know the law’

“I am a lawyer myself, the President is a lawyer. We will comply with the constitutional provision. If there is a serious illness, the people will know, he will not hide it,” Roque said, when asked if there was a need to issue a medical bulletin on Mr. Duterte’s health.

The Constitution states that in case of serious illness of the President, the public shall be informed of the state of his health. The Cabinet members in charge of security and foreign relations as well as the military chief of staff shall not be denied access to the President during the illness.

Aside from his Barrett’s esophagus, Duterte has also revealed that he has Buerger’s disease, which affects blood vessels in the body, and myasthenia gravis, a disease that causes muscle weakness and fatigue.