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Duterte 'fit and healthy' to lead PH in COVID-19 fight: Panelo

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/04/14/20200406-duterte-covid-address-mnib-6.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption>President Rodrigo Duterte updates the nation on the government&#x27;s efforts in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang on April 6, 2020.<em> Ace Morandante, Presidential Photo/file</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte is &quot;fit and healthy&quot; to lead the Philippines in its battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, his chief legal counsel said Tuesday.</p><p>Salvador Panelo, <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/13/20/harry-roque-back-as-duterte-spokesman-panelo-to-remain-legal-counsel">former spokesman</a> of the President, made the remark after a lawyer asked the Supreme Court to compel the 75-year-old chief executive to disclose his latest medical, psychological and psychiatric exam results, health bulletins, and other health records.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/13/20/lawyer-files-petition-on-extremely-urgent-petition-for-mandamus-on-duterte-health-coronavirus-luzon-lockdown">Lawyer asks Supreme Court to compel Duterte to disclose medical, psychological health records</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pEMQMamMRZI?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>&quot;The President is fit and healthy. He has told us his diseases,&quot; Panelo told ANC when asked about the medical condition of the President and if he is able to lead the country in combating the pandemic.</p><p>&quot;The President has been telling us exactly what sickness he has and these are not serious illnesses. It would be very evident for the public to know if he has a serious illness by just looking at him.&quot;</p><p>Lawyer Dino de Leon in a petition noted Duterte’s &quot;pallid condition&quot; in his latest appearances, calling his statements &quot;incoherent, unresponsive, and filled with unintelligible rumblings.&quot;</p><p>He claimed the President seems to be physically unwell, his statements resembling those of a &quot;drunken monologue.&quot;</p><p>Panelo, however, said it was just the &quot;style of the President.&quot;</p><p>&quot;When he responds, he gives you a specific then he branches out when he remember something to tell the public then he goes back to the same thing. That’s his style,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;That’s why I&#x27;ve been telling the media, you listen very carefully to this man because he has a different style of expressing himself.&quot;</p><p>Panelo added that the President&#x27;s late-night report last month on the pandemic, criticized for airing after 8 hours of delay and for supposedly lacking details, was &quot;tentatively set at a particular time.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/31/20/no-concrete-plan-duterte-late-night-report-hit-for-lack-of-details">‘No concrete plan’: Duterte late-night report hit for lack of details</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/31/20/is-she-hard-on-hearing-panelo-blasts-hontiveros-for-criticizing-dutertes-covid-19-crisis-handling">&#x27;Is she hard on hearing?&#x27;: Panelo blasts Hontiveros for criticizing Duterte&#x27;s COVID-19 crisis handling</a></li></ul><p>&quot;That allegation of a conference starting late - why should that be a cause of concern? Subsequent to that I issued statement that the President cannot do it because he was still conferring with heads of agencies regarding the situation. How can that be a ground for saying that he has serious illness,&quot; he said.&quot;</p>

<p>President Rodrigo Duterte is "fit and healthy" to lead the Philippines in its battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, his chief legal counsel said Tuesday.</p>

President Rodrigo Duterte is "fit and healthy" to lead the Philippines in its battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, his chief legal counsel said Tuesday.