SEN. Miriam Santiago, who is running for president with Sen. Bongbong Marcos as her running mate, won’t reveal her medical records to prove that she is cleared of Stage 4 lung cancer. That’s her right to privacy, she said.
The feisty lady senator, whose decision to run for president practically surprised everyone because of the lung cancer that kept her on the sidelines for a while, refused to heed the request of Dr. Sylvia Claudio.
When Santiago told Claudio to go to St. Luke Hospital and get her medical records, she knows that the hospital won’t provide these to Claudio without her consent and permission. Otherwise, the hospital administrator and the doctors could be held criminally liable.
Dr.Claudio wrote an open letter to Santiago to reveal her medical records that she is free from Stage 4 lung cancer. While Claudio acknowledged the privileged relationship between a doctor and client, she said Santiago tipped the balance when she filed her certificate of candidacy and declared she is free of cancer.
Fitness to run and serve the government and the public is a very material issue for every candidate in any elective office, most especially for the Office of the President where the job demands almost 24-hour attention.
No, I am not a doomsayer but what if Santiago and her running mate would win the presidential race and, in the remotest possibility, she could not finish her term because of ill health?
Under the law on succession, the vice president succeeds the president. If that happens, another Marcos would be at the helm of this government.
Of course, no one could compel Senator Santiago to show her medical records to the public in the same manner that former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña and incumbent Mayor Mike Rama are not obliged to show their medical records to the Cebuanos to prove that they are cancer-free.
But could we, the voters, compel every candidate for all elective positions to show to the public their medical or health records? As Senator Santiago puts it, there is no law that mandates candidates to do so. What about their honest conscience?
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Just a day after former Sen. Kit Tatad filed a petition before the Comelec against Sen. Grace Poe-Llamazares asking the poll body to cancel her certificate of candidacy because she is not a natural-born citizen and she failed the 10-year residence requirement, another petition against her was filed on Tuesday before the Comelec.
De La Salle Prof. Antonio Contreras filed the petition with the Comelec against Poe-Llamanzares on the sole ground that she lacks the 10 year residency requirement under the Constitution.
Just like in the petition that Atty. Estrella Elamparo filed, the camp of Poe-Escudero, instead of answering the issue squarely, accused Contreras of being paid by their opponents to file the petition.
Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista promised to resolve the petitions as soon as possible so that whatever will be the commission’s decision the parties could still raise it to the Supreme Court and it could be decided before the elections next year.
It was in July 2006 that Senator Poe-Llamanzares re-acquired her Philippine citizenship. Atty. Elamparo claimed in her petition that this should be the date to start counting the 10-year residence of the senator.
In the event that it is established that she lacks the 10-year residence as required by the Constitution for candidates for the office of the president, then Senator Poe-Llamanzare could also be held criminally liable for perjury.
In our radio program “Frankahay Ta” at dyCM (1152AM) on Tuesday, “Torni” Frank insists that in the event the tandem of Poe-Escudero wins the presidential race but Poe is later on disqualified due to violation of the Constitution, Escudero cannot succeed Poe as president.
While Torni Frank’s aversion for Escudero is apparent, he has a legal point since the vice president, considered a spare of the president, can only sit down as president upon the death or incapacity of the president to perform his or her duty. In the hypothetical case, Poe would be disqualified to run for president.
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