WHERE IS THE PRESIDENT? GO SHOWS HIM ‘JOGGING’ AT NIGHT
So, where is President Duterte?
He is in Malacañang hard at work, according to his longtime aide, Sen. Bong Go, who produced new pictures and a video of the President jogging in the dark on the Palace grounds on Saturday.
The President has been out of the public eye for nearly two weeks, missing one of the nationally televised meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) where he also addresses the nation and sometimes attacks critics of his administration.
That meeting is usually held on Mondays. The one set for April 5 was canceled and moved two days later, but that was also scrapped.
The President’s last public appearance was on March 29, when he welcomed the arrival of one million doses of the China-made Sinovac vaccine procured by the government. Later that day, he went live on government television after a meeting with Cabinet members in Malacañang.
Showing up on Monday
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Saturday said Mr. Duterte was expected to show up on TV on Monday.
Roque explained that due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases, which included several members of the presidential guards, the President had to avoid public functions, such as the rites for the national Day of Valor on Friday. But Mr. Duterte issued a written and a video message to mark the event.
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Malacañang had also taken into consideration the well-being of staff members who would be needed to prepare for the President’s public appearances.
Mr. Duterte’s absence triggered rumors that he had come down with the severe respiratory disease. His daughter Sara’s trip to Singapore earlier in the week for her own “personal health management” fueled speculations even more.
The hashtag #NasaanAngPangulo (Where is the President?) trended on Twitter and critics blasted Mr. Duterte for not making himself publicly visible while the country battled the pandemic with the number of cases reaching record highs.
Quashing rumors
To quash the rumors, Go first posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday pictures of himself with the President sitting at a desk with some documents. “He’s got a ton of work to do,” he said of the President. Both were in casual clothes, Go in “puruntong” shorts and rubber slippers.
On Saturday morning, he posted more photos, including several of the President wearing black sport shirt and pants on a motorcycle and a video of Mr. Duterte jogging on the dark Palace grounds. Go did not say when they were taken.
The latest photos, however, did not dampen the criticisms of Mr. Duterte on social media. Many commented that what they wanted to see and hear from the President were plans and actions to deal with the country’s problems.
Former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a staunch critic of the President, mocked the jogging video.
“If you don’t have a solution for the worsening COVID situation and the [West Philippine Sea], just go jogging, #dutertePALPAK #duterteTAMAD #duterteRESIGN,” Trillanes tweeted in Filipino.