Colonoscopy, endoscopy for Duterte no big deal — Palace
MANILA, Philippines — Quelling concerns about the president's health, Malacañang said there was "nothing extraordinary" in President Rodrigo Duterte's recent medical procedures.
The president earlier disclosed that he has gone through endoscopy and colonoscopy, citing a family history of constipation.
"I think that's routine. The president said that the test is done regularly so that's a routine, nothing extraordinary," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing Monday.
Endoscopy is a non-surgical procedure done to examine a person's digestive tract while a colonoscopy entails a long, flexible tube with a video camera at the tip to be inserted into a person's rectum to examine the large intestine.
In a speech before doctors in Cebu City a few days ago, Duterte admitted he has a bad case of Barrett's disease, which he acquired when he was younger due to smoking and heavy drinking.
It is a chronic and usually severe gastrointestinal reflux disease or GERD.
'He had no qualms about telling everyone'
Roque added that if the president's illness was serious, he would not have been open about it.
"To him it was routine, he had no qualms about telling everyone, the whole world, that he had it and so I think it's human nature... it's no big deal to disclose it," Roque said.
As mandated by the 1987 Constitution, Duterte will disclose his medical condition if it was serious, the Malacañang spokesman said.
"The president is transparent... He will not cling on if he's dying or being gravely ill," Roque said.
Section 12, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution states that, "In case of serious illness of the President, the public shall be informed of the state of his health. The members of the Cabinet in charge of national security and foreign relations and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, shall not be denied access to the President during such illness."
Just last month, there were rumors that the president was seriously ill and in a coma.
To dispel the rumors, Duterte went live on Facebook and assailed Communist Party of the Philippines founding chair Jose Maria Sison for saying that he was suffering from an illness.
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