Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte admitted on Monday that he indeed paid a visit to a hospital in China.

"Totoo nagpunta ako ng China [It's true that I went to China]. Totoo nagpunta ako ng hospital [It's true I went to the hospital]. I underwent circumcision," the tough-talking president said during the launching of the tax campaign of the Bureau of Internal Revenue in Manila.

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"Sabihin mo sa kanya. Nagpatuli ako uli... bumalik eh. [Tell him I underwent circumcision. It returned]," he added, referring to the foreskin of the male reproductive organ.

The remarks come after a column by former Senator Francisco Tatad published in The Manila Times last month revealed that the president spent his New Year at the Fuda Cancer Hospital in Guangzhou, China. Tatad claimed to have received reports that the leader flew via a private plane to meet with Chinese doctors.

Duterte retaliated against Tatad, calling him an "idiot" and "gago [fool]" for using his news column to redeem himself.

"You know this guy, Tatad, he read the Proclamation 1081... Staying with Marcos for so many years and now he talks as if he were a saint," he added.

Meanwhile, Duterte also revealed that a doctor, identified as a certain "Dra. Del Rosario" from the Cardinal Santos Medical Center, visited him in Malacañang Palace after he felt pain in his heart.

"I was late. Pardon me. I had an EKG. I was not feeling well. I told [the doctor], 'I feel pain in my heart,'" the 72-year-old chief executive said, adding that the doctor did not find anything wrong with his heart.

TagsDuterte News, Duterte Health News, Duterte health problems, Duterte China visit