Bohol's oldest man alive: 106 yrs old

SAN ISIDRO, BOHOL , Philippines— He has certainly seen his fair share of life's ups and down. At 106 years old, Pedro Samuya told The Freeman, in a barely audible voice, he enjoys life and happy.

Samuya was born on June 17, 1908 in this town, and is now Bohol's oldest man and the oldest former government official who is still alive to this generation.

He was born about five years after the Wright brothers in the United States piloted their first powered airplane during the administration of then US President Theodore Roosevelt.

For such feat in life, the provincial government conferred on Samuya the rare award for being the centennial man and the only living former public official.

The centennial man award was given during the 160th Bohol Day celebration last July 22. Incidentally, the other awardees were lawyer Anos Fonacier, represented by his son, for being Bohol's "Father of Tourism," and Richard Uy for outstanding feat in business or enterprise.

Samuya, may not make it to the Guinness Book of Records, but he certainly is among the oldest or just younger than the oldest male super-centenarians ever recorded: Arturo Licata of Italy, who died at 112, and Alexander Imich of the US at 111.

Now, his secret of longevity, he said, is simple living, while his children said it was his strong faith in God. He had been eating vegetables, especially during those times when there were no preservatives or chemicals in plants perhaps, no pollution and no stress-causing activities.

Samuya said everything was just simple life and living. He said he ate a lot of vegetables and probably other lagutmon (or root crops) in his surroundings or whatever organic foods available during his younger days.

The centenarian award for Samuya was distinct simply because the award-giving body acknowledged him as the oldest former government official alive in the present times.

He told The Freeman that he served his town for ten years from 1970, a year after the town was created, until 1980. And by the way the most laudable thing he did that present local officials should emulate is that he did not receive his salary but put them in a fund instead for the town's programs.

Samuya, whose wife already passed away, has four children who are all successful in their respective fields and 18 grandchildren, excluding the traditionally called "apo sa tuhod."

His son, Requillo Samuya, followed his footsteps in government service for having been served as mayor of this town.