AS SEEN ON TV
Sick Presidents
Comedy film “Dave” portrays the health of the US president a matter of national security. The movie is about a corrupt and philandering president who suffers a massive heart attack while having sex with a concubine. His advisers keep it a secret even from the first lady. They keep him in a make shift ICU at the White House basement and hire a dead ringer (played by Kevin Kline) to impersonate him. In one of the scenes the secretary of state explains the strategy: “The White House needs a fake president to show the American people that their leader is healthy and stable. It will make both the country and even its enemies, sleep at night”.
Nobody wants a sick president.
It disrupts the political dynamics. His enemies will relentlessly plot, position and pray that he conks out soonest. Re-electionists in government will barely get anything done (but grab power) at the slightest hint of leadership weakness, physical or otherwise. That’s why presidents put a lid on their ailments.
PGMA (with her infamous implant leak) is not the first who may have kept an illness under wraps. Ferdinand Marcos hushed up a kidney disease, fanning outrageous stories from secret dialysis machines to hiring a “mysterious Marcos double” whenever he wasn’t well. Like Dave.
While he ruled, Erap also claimed he was healthy. His ailments only appeared after incarceration (to justify the furloughs too). Even FVR was hounded by media for downplaying the removal of blockage on his neck vein.
Presidents are public figures and keeping their health condition secret is nearly impossible. They should just be transparent and trust that the public will treat them with dignity, the same one accorded to the iconic Cory Aquino whose supporters even pray as she battles cancer.
The public and the media will discuss these health problems in a more tasteful manner and less of the unflattering details, unless one is really an unpopular president.
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Still on the subject of presidential health, Palawan Representative Antonio Alvarez is pushing 2010 aspirants to disclose not just their health status but their makeovers (if any) as well.
Politicians can be a little vain and I don’t blame them. Voters can “beauty seek” and choose the fairest of them all.
Politicians also cross an invisible line between being a public servant and a superstar. That’s why some tend to sweep supporters off their feet with that perfect smile, if voters don’t buy plain platform!
But whatever the motive, I agree that the people deserve to know about their candidates’ nose jobs or liposuction. Cosmetic surgery costs a fortune so Filipinos should be assured they didn’t pay for that Botox (or are not about to foot the bill on a botched job, years later).
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ABS-CBN launches a series of Citizen Journalism workshops as part of the network’s campaign for commitment to clean, peaceful and honest 2010 Elections. The workshops are in line with ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation’s movement, Boto Mo Ipatrol Mo: AKO ANG SIMULA, a people empowerment campaign to preserve the integrity of the ballot by means of vigilance.
The workshops will be given by seasoned national and international journalists headed by ABS CBN News and Current Affairs Head and Former CNN Bureau Chief Maria Ressa, News Gathering Head and Former Reuters Correspondent Charie Villa and ANC Chief Operating Officer and Newsbreak’s Glenda Gloria.
During the first of a series of nationwide workshops held in General Santos City and Davao City, youth groups received basic training on citizen journalism. Similar workshops will also be held in Iloilo and Bacolod in the coming months.
Those who completed the workshops are also invited to become Boto Patrollers. Anyone can become a member by signing up at: www.abs-cbnnews.com. The website contains simple instructions on how to be a Boto Patroller.
You may also register manually at the following ABS-CBN Regional Network Group Stations in Western Visayas: ABS CBN Iloilo, Luna Street, La Paz, Iloilo City and ABS-CBN Bacolod, 26th Lacson Street, Bacolod City.
(Comments or reactions are welcome. Email: stanley.palisada@gmail.com)