Manila: President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has revealed that he has a neuromuscular disease that has led to a slew of medical problems.
Duterte, who was in Russia for a state visit, told the Filipino community there Saturday night that he has myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune disease that leads to skeletal muscle weakness.
The revelation came amid continued public speculation about his health. There have been periods when the famously bombastic president has been out of the public eye for days.
But his communications officers have said that Duterte, 74, needs his own personal time.
The president revealed the ailment after he apparently made a joke about not being able to look straight at a woman with whom he had danced a duet during the event in Moscow.
"I have a talent," Duterte said, according to official transcripts provided by his office afterward. "When I look at you, my other eye droops. Do you see? The other eye is smaller. It goes where it wants."
He added: "Actually, that's myasthenia gravis. It's a nerve malfunction."
Duterte said his grandfather had also had the disease.
The disease often affects the muscles that control the eyes, facial expression, speaking and swallowing, according to the Philippine Medical Association.
Duterte came to power in 2016 vowing to rid the country of drug dealers and to wipe out other crimes.
Since then, the Philippines' war on drugs has led to thousands of killings allegedly by police and vigilantes, which rights groups have denounced as an atrocity.
This year, the United Nations' Human Rights Council voted to examine killings linked to Duterte's campaign.
In May, the president dropped out of sight for a week, prompting concerns on social media. His aides later tried to quell the rumors by releasing photographs of Duterte having breakfast.
Last year, Duterte revealed that he had undergone an endoscopy and colonoscopy and that doctors had found he had, he said, "a bad case of Barrett."
He was referring to Barrett's oesophagus, a complication of gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, in which the contents of the stomach flow backward into the oesophagus.
The president has also said he has Buerger's disease, which leads to constriction of blood vessels in the arms and legs.
