Dec 082014
President Benigno Aquino III is under the weather and decided to skip an event where he was scheduled to deliver a speech on Tuesday.
Aquino had to cancel his attendance to the National Competition Conference in Pasay City at short notice because he is not feeling well, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told reporters.
De Lima delivered the speech on Aquino’s behalf during the event.
“When he [Aquino] woke up this morning, he has no voice due to very bad cold and [nasal] congestion. He just asked me to read his speech,” De Lima said at the start of her speech.
Meanwhile, Communications Undersecretary Rey Marfil said Aquino had not been getting enough sleep over the past days because of government preparations for Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit).
Last week, Aquino even managed to preside over a National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) meeting before Ruby battered parts of central Philippines.
Ruby already weakened to a tropical depression earlier in the day, but has left at least 27 dead, according to the Philippine National Red Cross. Official government data has however so far placed the death toll at 3. — Andreo Calonzo/RSJ, GMA News
