Philippines’ Marcos proves health with jumping jacks

Irritated, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. did several rounds of jumping jacks and briefly jogged outside his office in front of reporters to debunk rumors that he was in ill health.

Wearing formal office attire, reading glasses and leather shoes, the 68-year-old leader said he was doing the impromptu exercise to ease concerns about his health at a time when people were already beset by problems caused by war in the Middle East.

“I challenge anyone who says I’m sick to come and exercise with me,” Marcos told reporters on Monday. he said.

“Come to the gym with me. Let’s see who can lift weights better.”

“All those who tell you that I am sick or paralyzed are liars.”

After the president briefly disappeared from the public eye in January, rumors circulated on social media about his deteriorating health and even his death, and he later acknowledged in a video message that he had been hospitalized for an abdominal condition that he described as stress- and age-related.

Marcos later laughed off the rumors surrounding his death and said he had been diagnosed with diverticulitis.

This condition involves inflammation of the small sacs in the digestive tract, usually in the colon, causing pain, fever, nausea, or constipation.

Marcos, who showed that this disease had improved in his last hospital examination a few months ago, added that he returned to a normal diet and exercised regularly.

Marcos has grappled with a multitude of complex issues and political dilemmas since taking office in mid-2022.

These include an increasingly hostile territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea, devastating earthquakes, typhoons and flooding, economic difficulties, turbulent relations with the vice president and a corruption scandal involving powerful lawmakers and allies that has sparked public outrage.