An annoyed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr did a few rounds of jumping jacks and jogged briefly outside his office in front of journalists to disprove rumours of his failing health.
Wearing formal office wear, reading glasses and leather shoes, the 68-year-old leader said he did the impromptu workout on Monday to ease any worry about his health at a time when people were already beset with problems from the Middle East conflict.
“I challenge anyone saying that I am sick, that they come and exercise with me,” Marcos Jr told reporters.
“You come to the gym with me. Let’s see who can lift the weights better,” he said.
“Those people who tell you that I’m sick, that I’m paralysed, they’re all liars.”
Rumours about the president’s deteriorating health and even death have swirled on social media after he briefly vanished from public view in January, before he later acknowledged in a video message that he was taken to a hospital for an abdominal ailment he ascribed to stress and age.
Marcos Jr then laughed off rumours of his demise and said he had been diagnosed with diverticulitis.
The condition involves inflammation of small pouches in the digestive tract, usually in the colon, which causes pain, fever, nausea or constipation.
His last hospital check-up a couple of months ago showed he had been cured of that ailment, Marcos Jr said, and added that he was back on a normal diet and was regularly exercising.
When asked if he was taking any maintenance medicine, Marcos Jr said he was taking medication for gout and for high blood pressure.
Since taking office in mid-2022, Marcos Jr has grappled with multiple complex problems and political dilemmas.
Those include devastating earthquakes, typhoons and flooding, economic difficulties, tumultuous relations with his vice-president and a corruption scandal involving powerful legislators and allies that has sparked public outrage. — AP
