Bzzzzz: Seven ways Duterte, Joma clashed on state of the president's health

President Rodrigo Duterte and Communist Party of the Philippines leader Jose Ma. Sison (SunStar File)
President Rodrigo Duterte and Communist Party of the Philippines leader Jose Ma. Sison (SunStar File)

After scrolling down, see who is right: CPP leader Jose Ma. Sison or President Digong. Joma, if they were in a card game, folded quickly, admitting without saying it that he was wrong in alleging the president was in a coma. He lied or got bad intelligence info from his people here. But both engaged in a propaganda exercise, which was not exactly a win-lose thing.

THEN president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. tried to squelch rumors he was afflicted with lupus by showing photos of himself half-naked, showing muscle and brawn. Chairman Mao Tse-tung of China released a photo of himself swimming at Yangtze river, showing only his face and head.

Did their people believe Marcos and Mao? No one was sure about that but President Duterte apparently shot down the rumor circulated Sunday (August 19) by Jose Ma. Sison, founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines, that Digong was in comatose state. Duterte, through his aide Bong Go, showed a video clip of himself dining.

Compare Duterte's riposte to Sison's post:

[1] FACEBOOK TO FACEBOOK. To Sison's Facebook post about Digong being in coma, Bong Go live-streamed a video of the president eating dinner at an unnamed hotel in Davao City.

[2] CHARGE, COUNTER-CHARGE. To Sison's claim that Digong was in a coma, Duterte said the CPP leader was hospital-hopping in his country of exile, without paying his bills.

[3] EVIDENCE, NON-EVIDENCE. Sison alleged Digong's critical health without citing source or proof. The president was in live video, eating or going through the motion of eating. Daughter Sara, the Davao City mayor, offered support by saying he even ate "sinigang" and ribs.

[4] QUALITY OF PROPS. Sison's accusation of Digong's ill health was posted with a photo, which didn't prove Joma's contention. The president's video had a "beautiful woman" from Davao. To Duterte, a beautiful woman beside an allegedly ailing man is evidence of his good health. Logic that's hard to beat. Even if he were in a coma, Digong said, he would rise up for the woman, which must prove he is freaking healthy.

[5] WISHES FOR EACH OTHER. Sison wished Digong good health so he could face trial before the International Criminal Court. Duterte wished Sison 1,000 years more so he could walk the earth "maski wala na siyang silbi."

[6] PROPAGANDA GIG. Sison didn't prove Digong was in a coma but the CPP leader underscored the need for the country's chief executive to be fully functioning and that he still faces the risk of prosecution for the killings in the drug campaign. Digong quashed the "coma" charge but he also didn't prove he is in good health. A beautiful woman at the dinner table or eating "sinigang" or ribs is no evidence that one is free of illness.

[7] INSULTS, NON-JOKES. Joma's false accusation about Digong's health, which he carried to the extreme by alleging he was dead to the world, was an insult. So was the president's reference to Sison "abusing" his host country's hospitality and not paying hospital bills. And the "coma/kama" joke, recycled by Bong Go from his boss's line in 2017, wasn't funny anymore. P.S.: Go's piggy-back riding on the issue for his senatorial dream ("not coma but Bong Go-ma," which led off his video message to Sison) didn't come out well.

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Who was that woman?

The woman who in the video sat demurely far from the president was later identified as Francis Veronica Victorio from Davao City, vice chairperson (on leave) of the Climate Change Commission, reportedly just back from Harvard University.

Initially, she wasn't included in the video streaming but the president, sensing how it could support his message, told his aide to show her too.

Exhibit A that the president is, in his words, "fairly healthy." At least this time, he didn't say, as presidential spokesman Harry Roque said a year ago, he was "in the pink of health."

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