April 14, 2026
MANILA – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday challenged those spreading rumors about his health to exercise with him to see who is stronger.
He made the challenge in a press conference as he debunked claims about his allegedly deteriorating health.
“I challenge anyone who [is] 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,” Marcos said.
To put an end to speculations about his health, Marcos performed several jumping jacks inside and outside the New Executive Building’s (NEB) briefing room. He also ran a few meters from the NEB to Malacañang Palace.
“I want to say to our fellow citizens that right now, I made sure that you can see that what they are saying is not true – that it is all lies. So from now on, those people who told you that I am sick or that I am already incapacitated – remember this. Now you know, they are all liars,” he said in Filipino.
The President further stressed, “So everything they say is a lie. So don’t believe any of those people anymore. Now you know who the liars are and who is telling the truth. And once again, I think it’s very clear and very obvious that I am in very, very good health.”
Marcos said he had recently completed routine blood work, with results turning out normal. He added that his last hospital visit was about three months ago for a CT scan to check whether his previously diagnosed diverticulitis had fully healed.
“I haven’t been to the hospital for three months and even then it was just to have a CAT scan because the CAT scan – to tell my doctors if the diverticulitis has completely been fixed. And it was and I’m done,” he said.
“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,” Marcos continued.
The President also said he is only taking maintenance medication for gout and hypertension.
“The others that I take are—no, nothing really. When I have allergies, I take an antihistamine. Pero wala naman ngayon,” he said.
“Aside from that, that’s it. That’s it. I’m not a great believer in supplements. If you eat well and you exercise regularly and you get regular sleep, ‘yun lang,” he added.
At a separate press briefing earlier, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro denied the insinuations made by Sen. Imee Marcos that the President had been sick for months, calling it false information spread by his long-estranged elder sister.
“She said that they have not been seeing each other anymore, right? So what does she know? Nothing. What she said is fake news,” Castro said, speaking Filipino.
“Let us not amplify fake news peddlers. We do not need them in our society. They are a scourge,” Castro said in Filipino.
Sen. Marcos posted on her social media a video message that she knew that Marcos had been sick since November, despite admitting that she had not seen his brother for a long time.
She also joined the call of some critics of the administration for Malacañang to reveal the truth about President Marcos’ health status.