On the physical, mental and moral condition of Duterte

Statement by Jose Maria Sison
NDFP Chief Political Consultant
August 21, 2018

Last year, when Duterte falsely claimed that I had colon cancer, I called him a big liar. He was fabricating an illness that I did not have and supplanting my rheumatoid arthritis with his lie. On several occasions, he repeatedly made threats to kill me. All these threats are well recorded on videos in files of TV stations and in YouTube.

With regard to the report that Duterte was comatose in the afternoon or evening of Sunday, August 19, I never claimed it to be certainly true but I cautioned the readers of my Facebook Timeline that the report is subject to verification or negation by the public appearance of Duterte and by credible medical bulletin.

If the video showing Duterte hotel-dating a young woman was really recorded on Monday night (Davao time), I am pleased to see that Duterte is still alive and that there is a chance of his living long enough to be held accountable for his crimes against the people and be tried by the people´s court or by the International Criminal Court.

Unlike him, I do not have any death wish for Duterte. In fact, I wish him to live long enough to receive a warrant of arrest, unlike the so many thousands of victims of Oplans Tokhang and Kapayapaan.

Duterte should be gratified that the report I have ventilated has given him the chance to deny that he is comatose. I am also gratified that the aforesaid video shows Duterte truly looking very tired and dispirited, his face still very dark and his right eye drooping . He looks like he just came from dialysis or some other kind of treatment on Sunday.

His video appearance somehow confirms the report that on Saturday, August 18 his face was darker than usual and that he was slow and unstable while shaking hands with his Lex Taliones fraternity brods. The video indicates that Duterte suffers from some serious illness, such as the aggravation of his self-admitted Buerger´s disease and/or his kidney problem due to frequent use of pain killers, including fentanyl.

It is not only his darker than usual face and wobbly motions that give Duterte away. The irrationality and self-contradiction of his rants as in the following bespeak of his mental and moral condition:

1. He wishes me to live a thousand years but repeats his old death threats or his lie that I am sick and dying.

2. He taunts me by saying that I am in and out of Dutch hospitals as an impoverished charity patient, while on other occasions he and his military propagandists claim that I wallow in a life of luxury in The Netherlands.

3. In very recent times, Duterte has publicly invited me to return or visit the Philippines but now he angrily tells me that he will conduct me to the Bilibid.

I agree with all the forces of the broad united front that Duterte is unfit for the position of president of even the semicolonial and semifeudal state of big compradors, landlords and corrupt bureaucrats. It is not just because of his self-admitted physical infirmities. It is more importantly because of his mental incompetence and most importantly because of his moral depravity in view of his crimes of mass murder, drug empire-building and plunder and his scheme of imposing a fascist dictatorship on the Filipino people. ###