Duterte healthy despite COVID-19 cases among staff, spokesperson says

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is in good health, a presidential palace spokesperson said on Thursday, as allies and aides of the 76-year-old sought to dispel rumors about his well-being.

“(The president) remains fit and healthy for his age,” Malacanang spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement, after announcing that 126 members of the president’s security team had tested positive for COVID-19.

“We thank the Filipino people for voicing their concern and wishing the chief executive strength and good health during this time as he continues to discharge his functions as head of the government,” he added.

Duterte’s former aide-turnedSenator Christopher Go also announced that the president had tested negative in his latest swab test last week.

“You have nothing to worry about, but we cannot take chances,” Go said in a message to reporters where he stressed that the president is tested regularly. “So far, with God’s mercy, he is the president?) trended anew on social media.

It followed Roque’s announcement on Tuesday that the president had canceled his weekly address to the public scheduled for that day.

Duterte was last seen in public on March 29 when he welcomed a batch of COVID-19 vaccines procured from China.

Concerns grew after Presidential Security Group (PSG) Commander Brig, Gen. Jesus Durante III confirmed that 126 PSG staff had tested positive for COVID-19. However, he explained that some had already been cleared, with only 45 active cases.

Durante added that infected PSG personnel were “not directly or closely detailed with the president and are all asymptomatic without experiencing any adverse symptoms.” “Rest assured that the president is safe and in good health,” he said, adding that the PSG’s protocols would continue to be enforced to ensure Duterte is “kept safe from all forms of threats at all times.”