PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, August 21, hit back at Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria "Joma" Sison, claiming that the latter is suffering from cancer.
"Let me just also disabuse the mind of Sison. You know his mind is really abused by himself, nobody else," Duterte said in his speech before municipal mayors from the Visayas gathered for the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) conference in Cebu City.
"You know, Mr. Sison, you are a refugee in that country. You are availing of the funds of the Norwegian people. You do not pay anything. You are staying for free [in the hospital]. And you are sick with cancer, in and out of the hospital," he added.
It was Duterte's first public appearance since Sison alleged on Sunday, August 19, that the 73-year-old Chief Executive was comatose.
On Monday, August 21, Duterte assured the public that he is "alive" and "fairly healthy" by going live on Facebook, through the account of Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go.
In his latest speech, Duterte told Sison he should be ashamed for allowing the Norwegian people to pay for his hospital expenses.
"Because you are sick, you might perhaps go to some... Belgium or 'yung mga Germany. You stop your... Kawawa ang Norwegian people and they are footing the bill and you are the rebel that is a freeloader. Nag-free load ka lang diyan. So stop it. Mahiya ka naman," he said.
(Because you are sick, you might perhaps go to some... Belgium or 'yung mga Germany. You stop your... Norwegian people are pitiful. And they are footing the bill and you are the rebel [who] is a freeloader. You are freeloading there. So stop it. Be ashamed.)
Irked by Sison's claim about his health condition, Duterte said he would not hesitate to "slap" Sison, if they would one day meet in hell.
"Comatose, comatose ka diyan. E sige, tignan natin. 'Pag nakita kita sa impyerno, P***** i** mo, sampalin kita. Really, don't expect to go to heaven," the President said.
(You are accusing me of being comatose. Comatose. Let's see. If I see you in hell, son of a b****, I will slap you. Really, don't expect to go to heaven.) (SunStar Philippines)