With Covid, counselor asks to miss the inauguration of the son of a former dictator in the Philippines

The Philippines’ new legal adviser, Juan Ponce Enrile, said he asked for permission to miss President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s inauguration. on Thursday (30) after testing positive for Covid-19.

“I informed the Executive Secretary, Mr. Victor E. Rodriguez, about this [testagem positiva] and requested that he inform the President and request that I be excused from attending the swearing-in ceremonies of the President and Vice President on June 30 at noon because I will still be in the hospital until then to complete the prescribed quarantine by my doctors,” Enrile said in a Facebook post on Monday.

Enrile, 98, said the diagnosis was made days ago and he felt no discomfort.

“No chills. No fever. No headache. No malaise. My body temperature ranges from 36°C to 36.8*°C. My body oxygen ranges from 96 to 99. All my physical vital signs and blood chemistry readings were normal.”

Enrile even threw a bucket of cold water on his critics, telling them not to rejoice as he was not in critical condition.

“Far from it. God gave me very good doctors. He wants me to humbly stay here a little longer to help clarify and clean up, if possible, his twisted narrative of our history for the benefit of innocent, uninformed people.”

Marcos has appointed Enrile to be Presidential Legal Counsel once he takes office. Enrile was Secretary of Justice and Minister of Defense during Marcos’ father’s administration.

His daughter Katrina commented on the post saying she was praying for her father’s “full recovery and for several days”. Enrile also served as president of the Senate and previously unsuccessfully ran for president.

Rodriguez, who is Marcos’ spokesman, did not comment on Enrile’s request.