(Eagle News)–Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison has refused to apologize for his comment on President Rodrigo Duterte’s health.
In a television interview on Wednesday, Aug. 22, Sison said his remark “was not fake news because the people around him, or some of the people around him, were surprised that he was very much unavailable.”
“Even some of them tried to contact him on Sunday so they started to guess, that for some serious reason, because of his health condition, Duterte had become indisposed,” he said.
He said his was a “well-cautious statement,” noting that pictures sent showed “severe discoloration on (Duterte’s) face.”
Despite his comments, he said he does not want Duterte dead as he wants him to stand trial for alleged human right violations before the International Criminal Court.
“I want him alive beyond 2022, the end of his term, so that the (ICC) or even the people’s court of the revolutionary movement can go after him,” he said.
Duterte himself denied he had gone into a coma as claimed by Sison, saying he only took a rest in Davao over the weekend.
Palace officials also denied Sison’s claim.