IT WAS Sen. Chiz Escudero, at the LP rally in Plaza Miranda last Feb. 11, who teased President Noynoy Aquino that running the country is tough: look at PNoy's receding hairline. The president can't govern the country alone, he needs a partner, Chiz added.

Last March 17, before PMA graduates in Baguio City, PNoy said "being president doesn't make one young." He was told to take a vacation, he said, as his eye-bags have become "noticeable" and his hair has grown thinner.

Would marriage, which Chiz urges, improve presidential skills and save hair as well?

Emotional stress is known to cause hair fall but it's a long stretch between marriage and good governance. PNoy getting hitched may stop hair loss but may not solve "inept" handling of crises. Would a woman partner have helped in coping with crises like the Luneta hostage-taking or the Sabah assault?

When PNoy became senator in 2007 he already had scant hair. Did he count the strands that have fallen since 2010 when his presidency began?

Causes of stress

On her hair loss, 2008 U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin blamed tabloids, a slew of ethics complaints, and opposition to her legislative agenda.

Who are the culprits on PNoy's ravaged hair?

He'd probably fault media for "under-reporting" his triumphs and blowing up his failures, Cabinet members who bring him tales of woe, and the courts for the slow-paced trial of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

At least, PNoy didn't say the succession of women he dated had anything to do with hair-unfriendly stress.

(paseares@sunstar.com.ph)