Boy with leukemia happy over Duterte’s message of support

BY ARGYLL GEDUCOS

“Kaya mo ‘to…Wag mong kalimutan ang Diyos.”

This was the message of President Duterte to a seven-year-old boy who has been battling leukemia.

In a video message, President Duterte, on his own birthday on March 28, wished for Jacob Wong’s speedy recovery after learning that his condition was already improving.

“Hello, Jacob. Balita ko gumagaling ka. Ipagpatuloy mo at ‘wag mong kalimutan na pumunta sa doctor, importante ‘yan,” the President said.

“Alam ko kaya mo ‘to. Alalay ka lang…Wag mong kalimutan ang Diyos, humingi ka ng tulong sa Diyos,” he said.

“Lakasan mo ‘yung prayer mo para pagalingin ka,” he added. President Duterte’s video message to Jacob was posted by his father RR Wong on Facebook Monday, March 29.

“Nakita niya video ni PRRD grabe lipay kaayo masyado si Jacob (Jacob was very happy when he saw President Duterte’s video),” he said.

Jacob’s family is in Manila to check if he can undergo a bone marrow transplant.

This was not the first time President Duterte expressed support for Jacob.

In 2019, videos surfaced showing President Duterte welcoming the boy in his Davao City home. He was shown interacting with him and giving him a gift for Christmas.

Duterte is known to have a soft spot for children diagnosed with cancer.

He observes a Christmas tradition of visiting cancer patients at the Southern Philippine Medical Center in Davao City.

In 2018, the President visited pediatric cancer patients in his hometown.

Photos sent by Malacañang showed Duterte giving a gift to one of the pediatric cancer patients at the House of Hope, a facility for children with cancer in Davao City.

In 2017, Duterte, sans fanfare, visited several public hospitals and hospices in Manila where he extended financial assistance to institutions that primarily serve abandoned or indigent children.