A bed-ridden former President Rodrigo Duterte? Fake news, according to his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.
The Vice President, who is in The Hague to visit the Duterte patriarch at the detention center of the International Criminal Court, said he was healthier even if he lost weight.
She dismissed a photo shared online allegedly showing the detained leader bedridden in a hospital.
“Someone sent me a photo that appeared to show former President Rodrigo Duterte in a hospital bed with two wristbands. That photo is not real. It was likely edited with my father’s face superimposed,” the Vice President said.
“He is not in the hospital section of the detention unit. He is in the regular wing. And earlier today, he was walking on his own with a cane. He’s not suffering from any illness that would render him bedridden,” she added.
The Vice President acknowledged that her father significantly lost weight.
“I’ve never seen him this thin except in photos when he was still single. Even my mom noticed he lost weight. But his face did not sag,” she added.
She said his weight loss could be due to a change in diet as well as his diabetes.
The 80-year-old Duterte patriarch is set to attend a September 23 hearing to confirm the charges against him.
