Presidential daughter Kitty Duterte has contracted dengue, but the Palace on Monday said the President did not rush back home from Russia because of it.
President Rodrigo Duterte told a Davao-based reporter that his youngest daughter had dengue, although she reportedly had been vaccinated with Dengvaxia, an anti-dengue vaccine.
Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte’s arrival on Sunday was as scheduled.
“We were not rushing back because that was our schedule. We arrived on schedule,” Panelo told reporters.
Duterte arrived at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City around 4 p.m. on Sunday from his five-day trip to Russia.
Meanwhile, his common-law wife Honeylet Avanceña was in Germany for an engagement with the Department of Trade and Industry.
The President’s former top aide and now Senator Christopher Go earlier said that Kitty, along with Duterte’s granddaughter Sabina, had received shots of the controversial vaccine.
Meanwhile, Malacañang said Monday Duterte was “okay” despite his revelation he was suffering from a neuromuscular disease and a “very bad case of cold” during his trip to Russia.
Panelo also allayed concerns there was something to worry about on the health of the President.
“He’s okay. What he complained about was he was unable to sleep during the flight,” Panelo said.
Duterte was also “up and about” when he met with Filipino reporters in Russia, he said.
Duterte, shortly after his arrival from Russia, said he had a condition called myasthenia gravis that affects the muscles in his eyes.
The 74-year-old leader also said he did not sleep throughout the 13-hour flight from Moscow to Manila.
“It’s really cold and I’m nursing a very bad case of a cold,” he said on Sunday.
In an interview with ANC, Panelo said the President complained about his jampacked schedule.
“I blame the protocol, why are you like this? Even the President complains, ‘Are you trying to kill me?” he said.
“I’m even amazed how he survived this Russian trip,” Panelo said.
He said he knew the President was suffering from the common illnesses of the elderly.
A nationwide survey early this year showed that Filipino adults were worried about Duterte’s health, and more of them also believed the President had health problems.
