Duterte: 'I’m in perpetual pain but not seriously ill'

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has admitted being in “perpetual pain” because of a motorcycle accident years ago but expressed confidence it is not yet his time.

Duterte has also denied rumors he is seriously ill, but revealed that he once relied on painkillers and has been experiencing dizziness during travels.

“That’s why I am in perpetual pain... on any day, it’s seven on a scale of 10. The doctor did not want me to rely too much on painkillers. He said, ‘You better come to terms with your body,’ ” Duterte said during a gathering of Visayas mayors in Cebu last Tuesday.

Duterte said his partner Honeylet Avanceña did not want him to undergo surgery because such medical procedures often go awry.

“That’s the threat made by other doctors: ‘Go ahead. If it goes wrong, there are so many nerves there. If it is cut, say goodbye,’ ” Duterte said.

The President previously admitted experiencing migraine every day and suffering from Buerger’s disease, a sickness caused by smoking. He has also admitted having a spinal problem and impaired hearing because of the accident.

Despite his ailments, Duterte is convinced he still has several years to go, contrary to the claim of communist leader Jose Maria Sison. The rebel leader had claimed that Duterte went into a coma last Sunday.

“I don’t know what he means that I am comatose... Kama lang sana ako pero ‘di comatose. Matagal pa ako (I was in bed but I was not comatose. I still have a long life),” Duterte said.

He rebuked Sison, calling him a “discredited leader.”

The President said communist leaders no longer believe in Sison and he has a rift with the Tiamzon couple, said to be the leaders of the rebels in the country.

“Hindi ka naman lalaki. You are not a man. Wala ka na (You are nothing). You are spent... You are talking nonsense,” he said, declaring that Sison’s rebellion is doomed to fail.

“You will never win, I will assure you. ’Pag nakita kita sa impiyerno, sampalin kita (If I see you in hell, I will slap you). Really. Don’t expect to go to heaven,” he added.

Duterte said Sison should be ashamed because he has been benefiting from the resources of the Netherlands.

“You are a refugee in that country... You do not pay anything. You are staying there for free. And you are sick with cancer, in and out of hospital... you are a rebel freeloader... So stop it. Be ashamed of yourself,” he said.

“Ask another country to accept you to give you the refuge. They call it a sanctuary – right of sanctuary. Because you are sick, you might perhaps go to... Belgium or Germany,” he added.

Rebels’ lairs threatened

The President also threatened to bomb the camps of communist rebels, who have been waging an armed struggle against the government for decades.

“I’m warning you rebels, I have a lot of weapons. You do some fighting there, I will freely use all the jets to bomb you. And if I hurt civilians, then it’s part of the territory,” he said.

“If you start a large-scale war, I will not hesitate to bomb you. Let’s not prolong this. Let’s end this during my time,” he added.

Duterte also warned mayors against helping communists and dismissed the revolution as a “waste of time.”

Fresh threats vs PDI

In his speech, Duterte also issued fresh threats against the Rufinos and Prietos, the families that own broadsheet Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The President has accused the newspaper of publishing “garbage” stories and being biased against him.

Duterte said he is studying filing a plunder case against the Inquirer owners, whom he accused of illegally occupying the government-owned Mile Long property in Makati.

“I want rich people to go to jail. I want them to experience it,” he said.

Duterte also reiterated that he had nothing to do with the ouster of former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

‘Hang themselves’

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said those who are spreading wrong information about Duterte’s health should just hang themselves.

“Ang suhestyon ko sa kanila, magbigti na lang po silang lahat, dahil hindi po mangyayari iyong gusto nila (My suggestion to them is to hang themselves because what they want to happen will not happen),” Roque told radio station dzRH.

“It’s impossible for him to have a serious illness. We saw the President yesterday (Aug. 21) and he was very normal,” he added.

‘Drama’

The reemergence of news items concerning Duterte’s health was just a “drama” to divert public attention from the problems faced by Filipinos brought by his poor governance, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said yesterday.

Trillanes was commenting on Sison’s claim that Duterte fell into a coma last week, and Malacañang’s response of releasing a photo of him working.

“I’m working on the assumption that (the health issue is) drama so that Filipinos will pity him so they will not blame him for the rising prices. Filipinos are known to be compassionate,” Trillanes said.

The opposition senator believes Duterte is healthy “but lazy.”

“He’s not performing his duties to find solution to the country’s problems; instead, he’s busy doing mischief in Davao,” he said.

Senators from the majority bloc had earlier dismissed claims that Duterte fell ill.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, Duterte’s partymate in PDP-Laban, said Sison’s statements on the matter should be taken seriously.

“The President is healthy. Why believe in the report of someone hundreds of kilometers away in Europe?” Pimentel told reporters.

Sen. Cynthia Villar said she was with Duterte last Friday in Davao City and the President was his usual self: angry with corrupt officials and happy meeting ordinary folks.

“When you’re the President, there will be a lot of stories coming out, that’s expected, but I don’t think that’s true and we should not be worried about it,” Villar said.

‘Unfit to be President’

Meanwhile, Sison believed that Duterte is “unfit” to be President because of his alleged “mental incapacity” and “moral depravity.”

In a statement posted on the National Democratic Front (NDF)’s website, Sison, the organization’s chief political consultant, said Duterte is imposing “fascist dictatorship on the Filipino people.”

“I agree with all the forces of the broad united front that Duterte is unfit for the position of President of even the semicolonial and semifeudal state of big compradors, landlords and corrupt bureuacrats. It is not just because of his self-admitted physical infirmities. It is more importantly because of his mental incompentence and most importantly because of his moral depravity in view of his crimes of mass murder, drug empire-building and plunder and his scheme of imposing a fascist dictatorship on the Filipino people,” Sison said.

Sison said it is not only Duterte’s darker-than-usual face and wobbly motions that give it away.

“The irrationality and self-contradiction of his rants as in the following bespeak of his mental and moral condition,” Sison said. – With Paolo Romero, Jose Rodel Clapano

Related video: