The Palace on Monday assured the public that President Rodrigo Duterte is in good health and will push through with his visit to Japan after he was observed to be wobbly and sleepy during the graduation of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 2019 on Sunday.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said that despite showing up late and drowsy at the military graduation, President Duterte remains in good health.
He said the President was sleepy and “struggled to be awake” at the PMA event because of his heavy workload on the eve of the event.
“To the people who wish him to be seriously ill, they will be disappointed,” Panelo said.
“To those who are concerned about his well being, they should be assured that apart from what he already told the public of what ails him, the President is in good health, robust enough to be traveling to Japan for an official visit upon the invitation of Prime Minister Abe,” Panelo said.
“He is a night person. He usually sleeps at 6 a.m., he had to wake up at 8:30 a.m. for the PMA graduation rites so he only had two hours sleep,” Panelo said.
The President is scheduled to travel to Japan on Tuesday for a four-day visit, mainly to attend the Nikkei Conference on the Future of Asia on May 31.
The Palace said President Duterte is also scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday (May 31) where the two leaders are expected to tackle defense and security, economic cooperation, infrastructure development, entry of Filipino skilled workers to Japan, assistance for the Bangsamoro region, as well as regional issues such as Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea.
During the graduation ceremony, the President tasked Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to hand out the diploma to the graduates.
Panelo said the President did this to “reserve his energy” for other ceremonial acts he had to perform at the event.
“The protocol in distributing diplomas is either he does it himself or he tasks the Secretary of National Defense to do it,” he said.
The President was back in his “usual alert, impassioned and assertive self” when he delivered his speech at the PMA graduation, the Palace spokesperson said.
Panelo said that the President even made jokes in his speech—where Duterte said rape and illegal drug use were among the top offenses committed by PMA cadets.
During the rites, Duterte handed out a diploma only to class valedictorian Cadet 1st Class Dionne Mae Umalla, then sat down and let Lorenzana hand out the rest of the diplomas. He stood up again to hand out a diploma to 1st Class Danmark Solomon, the lowest-ranked member. With PNA
READ: Duterte to visit Japan anew—Palace