AFTER saying he might not be able to finish his term, President Rodrigo Duterte should release his medical records, Senator Panfilo Lacson said.
Responding to the query if the President needed to make public his medical records after enumerating in public his ailments in a recent forum with businessmen, Lacson said the President should do it.
“It already came out; he already indicated it. All the more the public should be informed on the real health status of the President. If there is an ailment, he should say what this is,” said Lacson.
Lacson said the release of one’s health records depends on the person concerned but the case of the President might be different.
“Health is always an individual responsibility. It is also a national concern. After all, he has a mandate whether we voted for him or not…he enjoys the mandate of the majority of those who voted. That’s why he is the president,” said Lacson.
“And it should be a national concern that the president should be healthy or not healthy or sick. But it is a personal responsibility of the individual concerned…we can be prepared to die but all of us don’t want to die,” Lacson added.
While Philippine laws are clear when it comes to succession of power, the senator said Duterte should be able to stay until 2022 or the end of his term, as he has the people’s mandate.
Lacson said that while the country’s laws are clear on political succession “we should not be worried if something happens, that we might have a hiatus. But then he was the one people voted for and he should be there until the end of his term.”
The 71-year-old Duterte had often talked about his ailments even before he became president. He blames his illnesses on his vices when he was young.
During the campaign, he missed some events due to some health reasons, prompting other candidates to demand the release of his medical records. Duterte had rejected such calls.
On December 2, Duterte told businessmen at a forum in Malacañang that he suffered from back pains, daily migraines, and Buerger’s disease, which leads to blockages in blood vessels.
Buerger’s disease (thromboangiitis obliterans) is a rare disease of the arteries and veins in the arms and legs.
In Buerger’s disease, a person’s blood vessels become inflamed, swollen and can be blocked with blood clots (thrombi).
This eventually damages or destroys skin tissues and may lead to infection and gangrene.
Buerger’s disease usually first shows in a person’s hands and feet and may eventually affect larger areas of the arms and legs.
Virtually everyone diagnosed with Buerger’s disease smokes cigarettes or uses other forms of tobacco, such as chewing tobacco.
Quitting all forms of tobacco is the only way to stop Buerger’s disease. For those who don’t quit, amputation of all or part of a limb is sometimes necessary, according to medical experts.