For the first time in two weeks, President Rodrigo Duterte addressed the public on Monday night.
It did not take long for him to address rumors of his ill-health and physical feebleness; Duterte said these weren’t the case, and his two-week absence was a deliberate move.
“Noong nawala ako ng ilang araw, talagang sinadya ko ‘yon, ganoon ako e,” he said as he opened his address.
“Pagka kinakalkal mo ako lalo akong—‘yong parang bata. Pagka lalo mo akong kinakantyawan e mas lalo akong gagana.”
Duterte had stated that he was a night person and did most of his work at night.
His weekly addresses are also being delivered at night, sometimes lasting up to midnight.
Duterte had two addresses postponed last week. The first was supposed to be held on Monday, April 5 and the second on Wednesday, April 7.
As Duterte missed these, his aide Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go posted photos of Duterte golfing, jogging, and riding a tricycle.
Duterte said people should not be quick to judge what he did in his free time.
“Kaya ako nagmo—kaya ako nakaka-swing ng golf, tapos nagmomotor e kasi kaya ko pa. Now the problem is you should look into the time I enjoy my hobbies. Mon, gabi ‘yon alas dos ng madaling araw. Ano ba naman?” he said, addressing newspaper columnist Ramon Tulfo.
He also said he should be allowed to go back home to Davao City on a regular basis and that he wasn’t using government money to fund his trips.
“You know, the people must know that I am a resident of Davao City…And if I want to go home there on a reasonable basis, I can because that is my home,” he said.
“Tutal naman ‘yong pamasahe ko hindi naman sa gobyerno so I go home just to be there and come back the following day.”
The country has recorded 884,783 Covid-19 cases as of April 13. John Ezekiel J. Hirro