Me, sick? Come to the gym with me, Marcos challenges detractors 

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

'I challenge anyone who are saying that I am sick, that they come and exercise with me,' says the President

It was with jumping jacks and a dare that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sought to debunk on Monday, April 13, rumors that he was sick or, on the more extreme end of the spectrum, dead.

“I challenge anyone who are saying that I am sick, that they come and exercise with me. We will see who is stronger. You come to the gym with me. Tingnan natin kung sino mas malakas magbuhat ng weight (We’ll see who can lift more weights),” he said at an impromptu press conference with the media.

While his main agenda was to announce policies designed to ease the burden of the Middle East war’s effect on the global price of oil, it was also a chance for the President and the Palace to finally debunk talk that he had fallen ill.

In the past weeks — but especially in the last one — social media was rife with allegations that Marcos had either been confined because he was seriously sick, or that he had died.

The ridiculousness reached fever pitch on Araw ng Kagitingan when his detractors claimed the event that had aired live on government-run programs, or the videos and photos taken by non-government media were either AI-generated or from the year before.

It did not really help that, as he’d been wont to do for years, Marcos isn’t always available for media-specific engagements, be it formal or casual. Announcements in the context of the energy emergency in the Philippines, for instance, are usually made through recorded messages shot and released by Malacañang.

It’s the energy emergency, Marcos would later tell reporters, that prompted him to do a live briefing and even run around the Malacañang grounds — literally.

“Pero alam mo, gusto ko ngang sabihin, ang mga kababayan naman natin, ngayon, it’s a — tiniyak ko na makita ninyo na hindi totoo ‘yung mga sinasabi nila, na kasinungalingan ‘yan,” he said.

(You know, I want to tell the public that…I assure you that what they’re saying is not true. Those are all lies.)

Without naming specific persons, Marcos added: “Kaya’t lahat ng sasabihin ng mga ‘yan, kasinungalingan. Kaya’t huwag ‘nyo nang paniwalaan kung sino man ‘yung mga ‘yun. (Everything they say are lies. Don’t believe whoever these people are.) Now you know who the liars are and who is telling the truth. And once again, I think it’s very easy and very clear that I’m in very, very good health.”

In January 2026, Marcos stayed in the hospital overnight and was diagnosed with diverticulitis. Speaking to reporters, Marcos said his health is back to normal and that the last time he was in the hospital was some two-and-a-half-months ago for a CAT scan to check on his colon.

“My diet is back to normal. My exercise is back to normal. I still exercise 3-4 times a week. I’m watching my food better than before,” said the 68-year-old president.

Health scares — and the subsequent rumors that accompany both the real and imagined kind — are nothing new to Philippine presidents. His predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, once had to issue “proof of life” photos. Previous presidents have also had to issue medical bulletins to quash or ease concerns over their health.

But Marcos himself need not look far for an example of a president who was hounded by health rumors that then turned out to be true.

His namesake and father, the late dictator, had suppressed for years talk and reporting about his frail health. The truth came to light only after the Marcos clan was kicked out of the Palace during the People Power Revolution of 1986.

Marcos Jr. does take maintenance medicine — one for gout (as it runs in the family) and high blood pressure. – Rappler.com