Duterte denies Joma’s comatose claim

President Duterte will have the final say on whether he will make his medical record public, to disprove claims by communist leader Jose Ma. Sison about his failing health.

“That depends on the President, so I cannot speak in behalf of the President," Assistant to the President Christopher Go said in a radio interview Tuesday when asked about the disclosure of the President's medical record.

Go, however, assured that Duterte remains "physically and mentally fit" to complete his six- year term in office.

"I assure you that he is in tip-top condition. I've been with him for the past 20 years and I know his medical results are sometimes better than his children's results," he said.

He explained the President was simply exasperated with the continuing corruption in government.

Duterte appeared on a Facebook video Monday night to dismiss Sison's claims that he had become comatose. Duterte, who was in a dinner meeting with former Climate Change Commission vice chair Frances Veronica Victorio, said he was "alive" and "fairly healthy."

“I am okay. They said comatose? How can I be in a comatose with a beautiful lady? If I was in coma and I see Vernice, I will really get up," he said.

He then said it was Sison, who is living in exile in the Netherlands, who was actually in poor health, citing his frequent hospital visits.

He said the Netherlands government has complained about paying Sison's hospital bills. "You are abusing the hospitality of the Netherlands," the President said.

Duterte said he was ready to accommodate Sison if he wants to return to the country. He however offered to send Sison to prison where he would be given space and plenty of companions.

Sison claimed the President had been in a coma since Sunday, saying he received reports that some people who attended the San Beda Law fraternity Lex Talionis event in Davao City last Saturday noticed the President's darkened face and unstable walk and handshake.

Duterte referred to Sison as the reincarnation of Ahasver, the Filipino Samuel Belibet, the immortal Jew who was cursed to walk the Earth until the Second Coming for taunting Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion.

"Joma, my wish in life, even if you're worthless in this world, is for you live a thousand years and roam around the planet," he said. (With a report from Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos)