President Duterte Not Wearing Colostomy Bag, Retired Surgeon Explains Why Raissa Robles is Wrong

President Rodrigo Duterte is not wearing a colostomy bag, contrary to what his critics suggest, including veteran journalist Raissa Robles. This is according to a retired surgeon, who have worked in various public and private hospitals in the Philippines and abroad. He had performed numerous colostomy operations in his 42 years of medical practice.



"@deanjorgebocobo is right. Duterte has this "bulge" under his fatigue uniform.what could it be?" Raissa Robles wrote as caption of a photo of President Duterte in fatigue uniform, and appears to have something around his abdomen. The photo was originally posted by Dean Bocobo (@deanjorgebocobo) on his Twitter account, as a reply to another tweet.

"Creases hint at all around abdomen wrap and cholostomy bag." Reads the statement in the photo, wherein a red arrow is pointing to President Duterte's abdomen. It should be noted, however that the spelling of “colostomy” is wrong, and should have no letter 'h.'. Nevertheless, retired surgeon, Dr. Evaristo Narvasa has a different point of view.

In layman's term, a colostomy operation is done when the colon, rectum, or anus of a patient is unable to function normally because of disease or injury, and he body must have another way to eliminate the waste. It creates an opening for the colon, or large intestine, through the abdomen. Therefore, a colostomy bag or pouch is needed to collect the waste.

But for President Duterte, who has not been seen in public for almost a week, what is the possibility that he has undergone a colostomy operation, and is now wearing a colostomy bag? "Based on my observation as I have been watching his activities after his absence, I can safely say that the possibility is very, very small." Dr. Narvasa told this PNC reporter.



"While a patient can go back to his normal life a few days after the operation, it is very unlikely that President Duterte can recover immediately, considering his age at 72. I also saw some of his other recent photos, and they did not show signs that he is wearing a colostomy bag. In fact, I think he is as healthy as a stallion." The retired surgeon added.

Contributed by Abner Esteno