President Rodrigo Duterte is a normal person who can also get sick, thus, can skip even major events, Malacañang said on Thursday.

"You know, the President is a normal person just like all of us," said Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo in a press briefing.

"There are times that we're not feeling well. Sometimes we have a headache, sometimes we have fever. That happens to all of us. You don’t have to be President to be like that," he added.

Panelo made the statement amid observation that Duterte had managed to join in a birthday party on Monday night while he failed to attend the change of command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the following day.

It was the first time in recent years that the commander-in-chief of the AFP failed to attend the change of command.

There were times that Duterte failed to attend major ceremonies because he was not feeling well.

On Monday night when he attended Panelo's birthday party in a posh hotel, Duterte even sang as shown in a Twitter post by another guest.

Panelo said because Duterte has mild fever, it did not mean that he could no longer sing.

"If singing happened before his fever, is there any problem there?" he added.

Panelo assured there was nothing to be worried about Duterte's health, noting that in his speaking engagement on Wednesday night, the President was "very strong." Celerina Monte/DMS