Palace denies Joma's claim Duterte is ill

Dharel Placido, ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><div id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1_Container"> <ivs-player id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-vid="1426979" data-ivs-floating="1"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/iframe-parent.js"></script> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script> </div></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>MANILA - Malacañang on Monday denied Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Joma Sison&#x27;s claim that President Rodrigo Duterte is seriously ill and has slipped into coma.</p><p>Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the President is “fine and well” in Davao City, joining the Kadayawan Festival activities, and will have another public engagement in Cebu on Tuesday.</p><p>“As usual, Joma Sison does not know what he talks about. How would he know the state of the health of the President when he is in faraway Netherlands?” Roque said in a Palace press briefing.</p><p>The spokesman issued this statement after Sison in a Facebook post Sunday claimed that the President fell seriously ill.</p><p>Sison showed a photo of the President supposedly taken from a Lex Talionis event last August 18.</p><p>“Those who saw him reported that the darkness of his face had become aggravated from its appearance the other day and that his walk and handshake had become more unstable,” Sison said.</p><p>“The latest report (still to be verified or negated) is that Duterte has gone into coma since the afternoon or evening of today, Sunday, August 19.”</p><p>Roque said the public should not listen to Sison because he is “a spent revolutionary force [and] not a doctor.”</p><p>Asked about the &quot;darkness&quot; on Duterte&#x27;s face, he said: &quot;I don&#x27;t see anything extraordinarily different from the color of the President&#x27;s face.&quot;</p><p>He noted that this is the first time that speculations about the President’s health surfaced and that Duterte debunked all these rumors in the past by appearing in public and giving speeches.</p><p>&quot;Sasabihin ko sa mga kritiko ni presidente, stop wishing him ill. Every time you wish him ill lalong lumalakas,” Roque said.</p><div><strong>ROBUST HEALTH</strong></div><p>The President’s most trusted aide, Bong Go, also debunked Sison’s claim.</p><p>“Nasa kama lang nag rest, kausap ko pa 2am kaninang madaling araw si PRRD. Baka nanaginip lang si Joma then na palitan lang ni Joma ng letter c ang pangalan nya. Siya pala yun,” Go said in a text message on Monday.</p><p>Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said Sison was being fed wrong information about the President’s health.</p><p>“Absolutely false. Perhaps that is the wish of Joma Sison hence when he is fed with the wrong information on PRRD&#x27;s health he easily believes in it,” Panelo said in a statement.</p><p>“Unlike Joma Sison the President is in robust health. I wish him good health that he may live long enough to see the dawn of peace that has remained elusive between the communist insurgents and the armed forces.”</p><p>Duterte had also several times claimed that Sison is seriously ill. He once said that the communist leader has colon cancer.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/24/17/duterte-claims-joma-sison-has-colon-cancer">Duterte claims Joma Sison has colon cancer</a></li></ul><p>Duterte and Sison&#x27;s ties soured after the President cancelled peace talks with the communists. The government is now seeking to hold localized peace talks with communist rebels, in what analysts said was an attempt by the government to make Sison irrelevant.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/19/18/duterte-to-sison-why-should-we-talk-outside-ph">Duterte to Sison: Why should we talk outside PH?</a></li></ul>

<p>MANILA - Malacañang on Monday denied Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Joma Sison's claim that President Rodrigo Duterte is seriously ill and has slipped into coma.</p>

MANILA - Malacañang on Monday denied Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Joma Sison's claim that President Rodrigo Duterte is seriously ill and has slipped into coma.

Palace denies Joma's claim Duterte is ill | ABS-CBN

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Palace denies Joma's claim Duterte is ill

Palace denies Joma's claim Duterte is ill

Dharel Placido,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 20, 2018 12:38 PM PHT

|

Updated Aug 20, 2018 11:46 PM PHT

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Rodrigo Duterte

Joma Sison

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