Lawyer presses SC to set oral arguments on plea for president's health info
MANILA, Philippines — Lawyer Dino De Leon again urged the Supreme Court to reverse its dismissal of his petition to compel the public disclosure of the medical bulletin of President Rodrigo Duterte, following his recent remark that he is nearing stage one cancer.
De Leon filed a manifestation pressing the tribunal to grant his motion for reconsideration and set his petition for mandamus for oral arguments. He previously asked the SC to compel the Office of the President to release medical bulletins of Duterte, but the court voted 13-2 to dismiss his plea outright for lack of merit.
The lawyer filed appealed the dismissal late July.
“Considering the unsettling effects of the President’s remarks in such a crucial time with dispatch on the matter by enforcing the remedy our Constitution has provided for such a situation: compelling the President to make a full disclosure on the state of his health,” De Leon said in the manifestation.
Duterte nearing stage one cancer?
In his latest pleading, De Leon cited the recent statement of Duterte that he was told by his doctor to stop drinking alcohol because his Barrett’s esophagus is nearing stage one cancer.
“Such statements only continue to fuel speculation and rumors surrounding the true state of his health, which is precisely the situation that the Framers sought to avoid,” he said.
READ: Duterte reveals his doctor barred him from drinking | Doc's advice to Duterte on ailment nearing stage one cancer given a 'long time ago' — Palace
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Wednesday that the doctor’s advice was actually given a long time ago when Duterte was still drinking.
But De Leon stressed: “Surely, it is not within the best interest of the nation for the President’s health to be constantly doubted, especially when the discussion is that the President may already have cancer—a sickness that is not a laughing matter.”
He added that if the SC would deem Duterte’s offhand remarks about his sicknesses, his “sickly appearances,” and the journals detailing the seriousness of sicknesses he claims to have as “insufficient” to trigger the provision of the Constitution on the president’s health, then the SC would be raising “unreasonably high bar in accessing the constitutional right.”
De Leon also said it behooves upon the SC to treat the matter with utmost seriousness. He added that there are only two possible scenarios: Either the tribunal believes that Duterte’s statements must not be taken seriously or it would take his words seriously, “in which case, it should acknowledge that Section 12 Article VII of the Constitution is obtaining.”
“In other words, if the Honorable Court respects the President’s declarations, it should take judicial cognizance of the same and do its solemn duty to uphold the right of the People to know the truth behind the state of the President’s physical and mental health,” he added.
Palace: Duterte is healthy
Roque, in an interview with CNN Philippines on Wednesday, said that the advice to stop drinking given to Duterte was given before the presidency. He also assured that the president is following the advice and has not resumed drinking.
"He is healthy as any 75-year-old could be in the Philippines, and that is the reason why he regularly delivers his messages to the people weekly so that they would know and see him and judge for themselves," he added.
Roque also said: "I assure everyone...the president and I will divulge any serious illness to the public pursuant to the Constitution.”
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