PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, August 20, went live on a Facebook account of his closest aide and assured that he is alive and "fairly healthy."
In a five-minute video posed by Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go, Duterte told communist leader Jose Maria "Joma" Sison that he was not comatose as the latter alleged.
The 73-year-old Chief Executive made the remark after Sison spread rumors that the former has been comatose "since the afternoon or evening of Sunday, August 19."
Duterte even bragged that he was having dinner with a "beautiful lady" called Vernice.
"I said, I'm alive, fairly healthy and having dinner with the beautiful lady from Davao. She's Vernice. Only from Harvard. Babalik iyan (She'll return there). I invited her to discuss many things along the way when she comes back," the President said in a Facebook live using Go's account.
"Okay pa naman ako. Sabi nila comatose? How can I be comatose with a beautiful lady? Kung comatose ako, makita ko si Vernice, talagang babangon ako. That's it," he added.
(I'm still okay. They said I'm comatose? How can I be comatose with a beautiful lady? If I'm comatose and I see Vernice, I will really rise. That's it.)