MANILA, Philippines – The next time President Rodrigo Duterte disappears from public view for several days, don’t be surprised or bothered anymore. The chief executive said this would be his new normal as he embarks on secret journeys mostly in Mindanao amid the raging war in Marawi.
“You know, you’ll see less of me until the Marawi incident is over. Nando’n ako sa mga kampo everyday, lumilipad ako ng kampo talaga [I’m there at the camps everyday, I really fly to the camps], just to raise the moral (of the soldiers),” the President said on Wednesday, June 28, in his speech during the turnover ceremony on China’s military assistance to the Philippines at the Clark Airbase in Angeles City, Pampanga.
He said he would have secret trips and he would only disclose these travels to the public after he completes his tasks.
“May mga lakad akong di n’yo dapat malaman…Pagkatapos na siguro [I will have trips that you should not know about…Maybe after], when I’m through with this job, then I’ll tell you everything,” he said.
“These are things that I have to do, which is not good for everybody to know. ‘Yan lang ang explanation ko ngayon muna, you will know (later),” added Duterte.
[That’s my only explanation for now, you will know later.]
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In a separate media interview during the same event, the chief executive said he would be “spending more time in Mindanao because there’s still fighting.”
“Every now and then, I go to the brigades to check on their morale, readiness, and everything. So hindi n’yo ko masyado makikita rito [So you will seldom see me here (Luzon), unless there is an important appointment,” said Duterte.
The President had two long hiatuses, which triggered speculations that he was suffering from a serious illness.
The first was for five days from June 12 to 16. When he showed up on June 17, Duterte said he went to Mindanao for a secret trip.
“I went on a trip somewhere. I cannot divulge it. I have to go there incognito. That’s the truth,” the President told reporters in Butuan City.
“I traveled like a private citizen so I can go to that place,” he added.
Duterte likewise confirmed that he took a rest but denied that he had disappeared from the public eye because he was sick.
“Sa kama lang naman ako, kayo naman [I was just lying in my bed)…Coma? Kama [bed],” he said.
His second hiatus was from June 21 to 26. When he reappeared on June 27, Duterte gave a 25-minute speech in Malacañang assailing Islamist militants occupying portions of Marawi.
The next day, the President hit one of his critics for claiming that according to highly informed sources, the chief executive got ill and thus failed to appear in public.
Duterte said the public should not believe the claim of former senator Francisco “Kit” Tatad, the information minister during the Marcos regime, who announced the declaration of martial law on Sept. 23, 1972.
The President said it wasn’t true that he was in coma as it was more likely that he was just in bed.
According to Duterte, while Tatad does nothing but look for ailments in his body, it is in fact the 77-year-old former senator who is sick. The President alleges that Tatad has enlarged testicles and venereal disease.
“Huwag kayong maniwala d’yan kay Tatad na in coma. Kama pa siguro. Itong Tatad na ito, walang ginawa kundi maghanap ng sakit sa katawan ko. ‘Yong bayag n’ya na lumaki hindi n’ya pinaliit ‘yan…The guy has a venereal disease,” the chief executive said.