State of health

The breakout of bum stomach, flu and allergic rhinitis that successively sidelined President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III has triggered renewed calls for him to quit smoking. It was as if quitting smoking is the immediate panacea to the presidential sickness that chronically afflicts the 52-year-old P-Noy.

Obviously, such calls are falling on deaf ears. Our country’s first bachelor President has every reason to ignore it. Anyway, to quit smoking was not among his campaign promises during the May 2010 presidential elections. So he is not bound to heed such calls.

Never mind the “quit smoking” calls echoed by some politicians. We know where these were coming from.

But no matter how well meaning the “unsolicited” advice for him to quit smoking, this is something that P-Noy would like to remain a personal decision. He and he alone must take or make this decision at any time he wants to, if ever.

The latest one came from Dr. Leo Olarte, vice president of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA).  Olarte gave the health tip to P-Noy, pro bono, after the Chief Executive was reported to have missed several state functions due to certain illness. Apparently, the undisclosed ailment debilitated him from performing his duties that he opted to stay away from official engagements.

Olarte rightfully pointed out part of P-Noy’s obligation to the Filipino nation is to take care of his health. “As President, he should always be in tip-top condition so that he could attend to the people’s needs more,” said Olarte.

In his recent visit to Cambodia, President Aquino developed nasal airways inflammation while he experienced a bum stomach when he went to Australia and New Zealand weeks ago. Only last week, the President also had to cancel a meeting with International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde purportedly because of cough, colds, and flu.

Noy is known to smoke Marlboro. Two of the so-called ‘Marlboro Men,’ actors Wayne McLaren and David McLean, died of lung cancer one after the other, years after they appeared for Marlboro cigarettes advertisements and billboards.

As to how many sticks a day P-Noy consumes, we do not know. We could guess it has gone up if we are to take the usual Palace justification that the President needs to unwind from stress and relax from the heavy, daily workload. Or, we could guess it has gone down because he has to refrain from smoking during engagements outside the Palace because he could not be seen smoking in public.

Smoking is banned in the entire Malacañang Palace, a National Heritage building. Thus, P-Noy whose official residence is the Bahay Pangarap located across the Pasig River, could only smoke in that area. I guess his smoking has gone down considerably given the constraints in his workplace at the Palace where he presumably spends most of his time.

P-Noy, however, is known to spend nocturnal activities outside the Palace, a fact confirmed by many public sightings of his going to restaurants and other public places at late hours. So presumably he can smoke freely in these places and have his nicotine fix any time he feels the need.

I would not venture though into claims by Peter Wallace that P-Noy is a “9 to 5” Chief Executive, or he allegedly observes office hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. His late mother, former President Corazon Aquino used to observed a similar schedule from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Saturday.

Even known “workaholic” leaders like ex-President Fidel Ramos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo observed some kind of specific working hours. Ramos and Arroyo were known to keep their Cabinet and other government officials on call beyond office hours and to work even on Sundays. Deposed President Joseph Estrada was known for starting work at late hours of the day, a habit he developed when he was an actor. He also observed a Sunday day-off.

Well, there’s nothing wrong with that. The presidential schedule must really be specifically set for each day. This does not mean though the President does not work outside or beyond this schedule. But the job of the Chief Executive is actually “24/7.”

But Noy is not alone in his presidential smoking habit. While he shows off his tobacco chomping, Mr. Ramos did not light up publicly during his presidency after he quit smoking a few years back. I’m not aware if Mrs. Arroyo smoked. Like P-Noy, Mr. Estrada kept his smoking habit away from the public eye during his shortened stint at the Palace. At 75 years old, the former President up to now puffs his favorite Lucky Strike. And like Noy, Mr. Estrada has fits of smoker’s cough.

As monitored on radio, the speech of P-Noy last Friday at Tagaytay was interrupted by another coughing fit. The next day, Joyce Panares of Manila Standard wrote how P-Noy’s coughing fit cut him anew in the middle of his speech. She described the latest coughing attack as having caused P-Noy’s face to turn red, indicating much strain on his oxygen intake.

Panares wrote: “Other than the glass of water, the President also carries napkins when he delivers his speeches, reporters say. It may not affect the quality of his speeches, but the coughing and sneezing may drive people away and some seemed hesitant to shake his hand, the reporters said.”

Levity aside, I am not a doctor but I have seen how my late father, also a smoker during his lifetime, had that kind of cough. He was later diagnosed as having emphysema, a condition where the air sacs of the lungs – it should be red if healthy – were all blackened already by years of smoking. My late friend, Jun Bautista – formerly a reporter of GMA-7 – passed away last month due also to emphysema, one of the types of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (C.O.P.D.).

We do not wish any ill. But we can only invoke the state of health of the President as a national concern and not a personal decision he could make whether or not to quit smoking.