Metro Manila, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is fine, Malacañang said on Tuesday, Sept. 17, after he was seen wearing a face mask during a sectoral meeting.
“I attended three of his scheduled activities today. Okay naman ang pangulo natin,” Presidential Communications Secretary Cesar Chavez told reporters in a message. “Halos sunod-sunod ang events niya ngayon.”
[Translation: Our president is okay. His events have been consecutive.]
Marcos met a number of Cabinet members on Tuesday.
In a Palace briefing, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said Marcos was “just under the weather” as someone might have passed the president a bad bug during his birthday celebration.
Herbosa said he saw Marcos wearing a face mask after the meeting and in a casual conversation with one of the secretaries.
“I also saw him later in two other meetings where he delivered a speech and conducted a meeting without use of a face mask,” Herbosa said. “We should not be hastily concluding any diagnosis for anyone who wants to wear a face mask.”
“From my perspective as a physician, the president performed all his duties today and is well and not ‘under the weather’ as earlier surmised,” the health secretary said.
