PRESIDENT Duterte himself admits to suffering from a host of ailments -- inflammation of blood vessels, intestinal illness, spinal issues, migraine, sleeping problem, among others -- but are they considered serious?
The Constitution (under Section 12, Art. VIII) requires that “in case of serious illness, the public shall be informed” about the state of the president’s health. It doesn’t specify when an illness is deemed serious, who decides that it is so, and who releases the information. Those are details that cannot be listed in the Constitution.
Mentioned are Cabinet members in charge of national security and foreign affairs, as well as the chief of staff of the armed forces. Those government officials, the Constitution says, “shall not be denied access to the president” if he is seriously ill. But they cannot demand information if they are shut out by the president and people surrounding him. And it’s highly unlikely for any of the persons listed on the health watch to litigate over it, unless the president is actually physically or mentally infirm to fight back.
No full disclosure
The Constitution leaves the matter to the discretion of the president and by extension his security cordon. There’s no law that covers a situation when the Palace decides to hide the information and has the capacity to do it.
That must put to rest agitation for full disclosure. Presidential spokesman, Harry Roque, and Duterte’s close-in aide, Bong Go, are not the persons who should be talking about their boss’s health. They’re not competent to say the president is not ill or, worse, “in the pink of health” with no expert medical diagnosis to back it up. But who else would be talking, especially if a cover-up or blackout is ordered?
Sison’s ‘expose’
On the latest flap about Duterte’s health -- “exposed” by Jose Maria Sison of the National Democratic Front who said the president had been in a coma since Sunday (Aug. 19) -- Go retold Digong’s joke in 2017 about being in a “kama” or bed. The recycled material must tell Sison what they think about him and his claim.
The president has accepted that his health is a matter of national security, which prompted the rule on disclosure. But he may not wish anyone to be poking into his physical state, particularly in moments when he is actually suffering from any of his illnesses.
A doctor explained that irritable state when Duterte once snapped at two inquiring reporters: challenging one to quit his job if the president could last more than an hour on treadmill, and asking another if he’d answer a question about how his wife’s genital smelled. Reporters are surrogates for the public that wants to know if their president was fully functioning. But there it was, Duterte’s annoyance over the fact-finding.
Past presidents
It all depends on the president how much he wants to disclose about his health, the Constitution’s provision notwithstanding. Past presidents used dissimilar modes: Ramos was open, Arroyo was not consistent, the public knew little about Noynoy Aquino’s respiratory ailments, and Marcos took great effort to hide his lupus.
Duterte has given a list of his illnesses but he gave a cryptic explanation about his two-week disappearance last year. Last July 22, he visited a hospital a day before his third Sona in Congress, dismissing it as routine checkup.
Pursuing the agenda
It all depends on the president how much information he releases about his health. He may allege “national security” as much as those tasked under the Constitution to know about what ails him. Or he may cite his illnesses to squelch skepticism over his frequent pitch about not staying beyond his original term of office.
Duterte has been ambivalent about his health: opening up to the public or shutting out anyone who asks, joking about it or snarling over an inquiry. One thing that he probably keeps in mind: how to use it for the political agenda he will pursue in the next few years.