Malacañang said on Friday that the petition compelling President Rodrigo Duterte to disclose his health records, which the Supreme Court eventually junked, was made to distract him from his job and to undermine the Filipinos' confidence on him in the wake of the coronavirus disease pandemic.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the Palace notes the latest decision of the high court dismissing the petition of lawyer Dino de Leon to reveal the health records of the 75-year old president.

"We maintain that the petition has no legal and factual bases. We believe it is designed to distract the President from his job and erode the confidence of the Filipinos to PRRD's ( President Rodrigo Roa Duterte) leadership particularly in this time when we are confronted with extreme health crisis," he said.

Moving forward, Roque said Duterte continues to attend to the affairs of the State as he monitors developments in the country, particularly the COVID-19 sitaution, and gives instructions to his Cabinet members on various efforts to fight this global health scare.

Voting 13-2, the high tribunal dismissed De Leon's petition, which was anchored on Section 12, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution requiring the President to inform the public of the state of his health in case of serious illness.

De Leon also cited in his petition Duterte's admission that he is suffering from various illnesses. Celerina Monte/DMS