Age is just a number.
This was my reply to a query if voters should factor in a candidate’s age in making their choice.
Holding office is not like buying beer where one should flash an ID to prove that he has reached the allowable minimum age to be intoxicated .
To be a congressman, you have to be 25 to take, or buy, a seat in the Batasan, while 35 is the minimum age requirement for the Senate. For the Malacañang throne, the presidency can only begin at 40.
The Constitution only sets the minimum age. It doesn’t set a maximum. While it mentions when one is too young to hold an office, it does not state when one is too old.
So what the basic law does not disqualify, the voters must not forbid. They shouldn’t attach expiry labels on candidates and conclude that this one is past his best-before date.
It will be a pity if voters will be swayed by propaganda that candidates in their 70s are “too ripe” for high offices or those in their 40s aren’t ripe yet.
This is because the classic stereotypes on aging no longer apply today. There are many 60-somethings whose bad cholesterol and blood sugar count are lower than people 20 years their junior.
Taking hypertension meds is no longer the monopoly of the old. People in their 30s are taking them too. Diabetes does not afflict a certain demographic.
Another scourge which does not discriminate is pollution. As any asthmatic who treats ERs as revolving doors would attest, the Ventolin generation cuts across ages.
On the other hand, to be spritely or energetic is no longer the exclusive trait of the young. If you want proof, join a fun run and you can see how many juveniles eat the dust seniors kick up.
In the days to come, expect this sideshow to emerge beside the political circus in town : barkers wanting to stage a battle of health records.
But the presidency is not a contest of who the healthiest is. Unless we need a chief executive whose job includes carrying sacks of rice like a stevedore, then we ought to ditch physical strength among the hiring criteria.
Of course, there will be candidates who will taunt their opponents to a foot race. Those who may want to pull this stunt must be reminded that we’re not looking for people who can run a marathon. We are looking for people who can run the country.
I, however, support calls that candidates make public their health records, or at least be very candid about the health issues they’re grappling with.
I’m for the full disclosure of what a wag describes the “medical version of a SALN.”
Well, if those applying for janitor in a government office is required to submit a medical certificate, then why can’t the same be required of applicants for the highest office in the land?
But medical records, let me stress, should not constitute the sole metric in determining fitness for the job. No matter how modern medical diagnostics equipment are today, they don’t capture a person’s true essentials.
A cardiac 2D Echo may capture the cross-sectional snapshot of beating heart but it cannot measure bravery or courage. Or a stout heart that will beat for the poor. No heart machine that can test compassion has been invented.
Same with a brain MRI. It may produce detailed images of the brain but is not a predictor if that brain will be used to help the poor.
The public can even watch an intrusive colonoscopy video but nothing in the footage can be used to forecast if the person has the “intestinal fortitude” to make tough decisions.
X-rays can film what is inside a person’s body but it is not a keyhole into his soul. All candidates can even be required to undergo DNA testing but I wonder if some gene for honesty would be found.
A candidate’s pulse rate can be clocked but there is no way of telling if he would be able to feel the pulse of the masses. Or, he may be gasping for air a minute after mounting the treadmill. This, however, does not mean that he cannot endure punishing hours of work.
A candidate can also bleed a gallon of blood as specimen for a million of tests. And the lab results will discover many things except competence, valor, fairness and the many characteristics we want in a good leader.
In reading a candidate’s platform, don’t use a stethoscope.