{"id":265556,"date":"2020-08-17T23:28:57","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T03:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=265556"},"modified":"2020-08-17T23:28:57","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T03:28:57","slug":"palace-spox-says-dutertes-health-fine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/08\/17\/palace-spox-says-dutertes-health-fine\/","title":{"rendered":"Palace spox says Duterte\u2019s health \u2018fine\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Malago Clubhouse in Malaca\u00f1ang on August 2, 2020. KING RODRIGUEZ\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte is in good health and undergoes regular reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or swab tests to ensure he is fit to perform his duty as the country\u2019s highest elected official, Malaca\u00f1ang said Monday.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque denied that the President left the country amid rumors that Duterte flew to Singapore over the weekend to receive emergency medical treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cFake news\u00a0po yung pag-alis ng Pilipinas ng ating Presidente. Nananatili po siya sa<\/em>\u00a0Davao.\u00a0Hindi po siya umaalis ng Pilipinas<\/em>\u00a0and his health is fine (Reports that he left the country is fake news. He remains in Davao. He didn\u2019t leave the country and his health is fine),\u201d he said in a virtual Palace briefing.<\/p>\n

To ensure Duterte\u2019s health and safety after a Cabinet member tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Roque said the scheduled meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on Monday night will be done \u201cvirtually\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cKung kami po\u2019y di nagtuloy ng<\/em>\u00a0Davao\u00a0kasi nag<\/em>-positive\u00a0nga si<\/em>\u00a0(Interior) Secretary (Eduardo) A\u00f1o (If we didn\u2019t push through with meeting in Davao, it\u2019s because Secretary A\u00f1o tested positive), it\u2019s just concern also for the health of the President and in compliance with health protocols,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Several Cabinet members, including Roque, have also decided to self-isolate.<\/p>\n

Roque said Duterte is in \u201cperpetual isolation\u201d in the sense that Cabinet members are not allowed to come close to him. If they do, they have to stay six feet away and wear face masks and face shields.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever we meet with him, there is a velvet rope that keeps him at least six feet away from everyone else. So, no one can really come close to the President. So, I guess my answer is he\u2019s in perpetual isolation in the sense that (Presidential Security Group) has done a very good job in making sure that no one really comes close to the President,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Roque later clarified this in a statement, saying perpetual isolation refers to a figure of speech to highlight the \u201cprudence\u201d exercised by the PSG in safeguarding the President\u2019s physical well-being.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch as he wanted, for instance, to shake the hands of those present during his fifth State of the Nation Address, the PSG discouraged PRRD from doing so as part of the precautionary measure of maintaining physical distance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As an added precaution, Duterte also gets regular RT-PCR or swab tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe does undergo regular PCR tests.\u00a0Nagrereklamo nga siya dahil paulit-ulit na iyong pagsundot sa ilong niya<\/em>\u00a0(He even complains about having his nose swabbed repeatedly),\u201d he said<\/p>\n

Davao City Mayor and presidential daughter Sara Duterte, he added, also requires all persons flying in and out of the city to undergo swabbing.<\/p>\n

Since he assumed the presidency, Duterte\u2019s health has always been at the center of speculations.<\/p>\n

In November 2019, he admitted that age is taking a toll on his health but maintained that these health issues will not hinder him from performing his duties as President.<\/p>\n

Duterte suffers from back problems, migraines, and Buerger’s disease \u2014 an inflammation of small- and medium-sized blood vessels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte is in good health and undergoes regular reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or swab tests to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":263828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-265556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265556"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265557,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265556\/revisions\/265557"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}