A legitimate concern

The opposition should stop insisting that President Arroyo has liver fat. Opposition members can simply say that she’s fat. It will hurt as much.

Unless the President starts turning a sickly yellow or a doctor comes out to confirm that she has liver problems or some other life-threatening disease, we won’t know why she had to be confined twice in the country’s top hospital — the first time ostensibly for simple diarrhea, and the second time for what looked like a mild case of influenza.

Since doctors are sworn to confidentiality and blabbing about a patient’s state of health is tantamount to professional suicide, we will just have to go along with what Dr. Mike Defensor tells us about the President’s affliction.

There is no law compelling a Philippine president to disclose her state of health to the nation. Even if there is a law, it will be one of those that are never enforced.

But Malacañang should keep in mind that Filipinos are health-conscious enough to recognize symptoms of certain illnesses. Corazon Aquino, during her presidency, had to take a rare vacation after being stricken by Meniere’s syndrome, an accumulation of ear fluid that causes vertigo and, occasionally, a ringing in the ears. Her visible symptoms were consistent with the ailment and there were a lot of jokes about an imbalanced presidency, but full disclosure of her condition curbed nasty speculation about her capability to lead.

Fidel Ramos also handled his carotid problem well. He was rushed quickly to a hospital and his aides kept the nation posted as surgeons removed the carotid blockage. Then he stood up as soon as he could and brought the press to his hospital room before the possibility of his constitutional successor, Vice President Joseph Estrada, taking over could rattle the markets.

Any apparent attempt to downplay an illness will only be interpreted by the cynical and malicious as an indication of a far more serious presidential affliction. The speculation could be more destabilizing than the disclosure of a degenerative presidential illness.

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Palace officials should weigh the pros and cons of being forthright about the President’s health. The President is a known fitness buff and has been healthy since assuming power in 2001, which is why two hospital confinements within a month have triggered speculations about a serious illness. If it was just mild influenza or diarrhea, why couldn’t the hospital in Malacañang Park handle it? The questions are coming not just from people out to destabilize the administration.

In other countries, mostly those where the head of government is secure in his position, full disclosure of a presidential ailment can even raise public awareness of a disease and its early detection, treatment and prevention.

The disclosure can drum up support for research and development of better treatments for illnesses that still have no cure. Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon raised public awareness of tuberculosis. Ferdinand Marcos could have done the same for his debilitating illness, lupus erythematosus, but dictators who want to rule a country for life cannot risk the instability that can be triggered by full disclosure of a life-threatening ailment.

In the case of President Arroyo, the opposition has done the predictable and called for her resignation if she is incapacitated by illness. That’s a very big if, and the speculation is easy to dispel: as long as the President is up and about, seen by the public in her usual workaholic pace, she has not been incapacitated. And the markets need not be spooked by the prospect of a takeover by Vice President Noli de Castro, who since the political crisis erupted last year has shown a remarkable reluctance — at least in public — to replace the President.

Malacañang should not worry too much about the opposition’s calls for the President to relinquish power for health reasons. Calls for her resignation have been made since Day One of her presidency, and these won’t stop for the rest of her term, whatever the state of her health.

There are brownie points to be earned for credibility, however, for being up-front about a president’s state of health.

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If opposition lawmakers do not want a repeat of this problem, they should craft legislation compelling full disclosure of a president’s health. The disclosure should be made not by Malacañang officials but by the president’s attending physicians, since doctors are not supposed to lie.

For that matter, there ought to be a health disclosure requirement as well for those aspiring to become president. This is one country where people with a terminal illness see the presidency as icing on their lifetime’s cake, and never mind the consequences to the nation if a chief executive dies in office. Anyone stricken with late-stage cancer should have the decency to tell voters that they might lose their president a year or two into a six-year term.

We have to consider proposals to raise the bar for aspirants to the presidency. A leader of a nation as dysfunctional as ours must be fitter for the job than ordinary citizens — physically, morally and intellectually. Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has a point in wanting to require all presidential aspirants to have a college degree. We have strict educational requirements for members of the civil service and the judiciary, and tough requirements for entry into the diplomatic service. The National Bureau of Investigation requires a law degree for key personnel. Military officers need a college degree; police officers need at least two years of college. Why do we lower the bar for the presidency? It’s bad for the institution, and bad for efforts to promote education.

Once elected, a president must take care of his health. Unless he’s a Fidel Castro or Kim Jong-il with plans of ruling for life, a democratic president should see no problem coming clean on health afflictions that could lead to even temporary incapacity.

For all we know, the Palace was telling the truth about the reasons for the President’s two hospital confinements. The coming months will show whether the administration has been honest about the President’s health. If Palace officials are telling the truth, they will find pleasure in their vindication. If they have been less than forthright, it can only aggravate public distrust of the presidency.

Malacañang should not take offense at public curiosity about the President’s health. The fitness of a president for the job will always be a legitimate national concern.