Petition seeking for disclosure of Duterte’s health records warrants “outright dismissal” – Panelo

April 14, 2020

Malacanang downplayed on Monday the petition filed by a lawyer before the Supreme Court to compel President Rodrigo Duterte to disclose the results of his medical examinations or other health records, saying it warrants an "outright dismissal."

In a statement, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said the extremely urgent petition for mandamus filed by certain lawyer Dino De Leon before the high court does not have any factual or legal bases.

"The allegations arising therefrom are based purely on speculations. It is hornbook doctrine that a petition before a court of law cannot be anchored on mere conjectures or surmises," he said.

He also reminded De Leon that  Article VII, Section 12 of the 1987 Constitution is clear, which states that the public shall be informed of the state of the President's health only if he has a serious illness.

"Such is not the case here. There is no evidence submitted before the high court that the President is suffering from a serious illness," Panelo explained.

"The suit may have been a product of petitioner's boredom as a result of the enhanced community quarantine. He may instead want to use his time by brushing up his law," he added.

De Leon, in a Facebook post on Monday, said he asked the SC to direct the President through his office or Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to reveal his medical records, to undergo confirmatory medical and psychological/psychiatric tests to confirm the information in his medical records and to verify that he is still fit to lead the country, and to release the results of the tests as soon as they are available.

He claimed that in Duterte's public appearances to address the country on the coronavirus disease pandemic, the President was "incoherent, unresponsive, and filled with unintelligible rumblings."

"His pallid condition also did not escape the public's attention," he added. Celerina Monte/DMS