By Prof. Jose Maria Sison

I have never stopped to presume that Duterte is still alive and capable of doing more mischief, mass murder and mass intimidation, as you can read from my message to the 5th National Congress of KARAPATAN today.

If you read carefully the following text, you can see that that I qualified the report that Duterte had gone into coma was still to be verified or negated:

Below is a photo of Duterte attending the national conference of his San Beda Law fraternity Lex Talionis last night Saturday in Davao City. Those who saw him reported that the darkness of his face had become aggravated from its appearance the other day and that his walk and handshake had become more unstable. The latest report (still to be verified or negated) is that Duterte has gone into coma since the afternoon or evening of today, Sunday, August 19. The report is still being verified by the press from the palace. People are awaiting the personal appearance of Duterte and medical bulletin from his office.

One more report circulating is that Sara Inday and key cabinet men have formed a caretaker committee to run the government while Duterte is indisposed. This report needs to be verified or negated by Duterte´s public appearance. We do not know the original source of the reports. The Duterte ruling clique itself might be the source to deflect attention from the raging issues against Duterte.