Two who are too old
As a senior citizen– I’m 62 – I am fully aware that there are things that I can and should no longer do. Or even try.
The opportunity to give sky diving a try has come and gone, for one. Ditto with mountain climbing. I’m not sure if it’s too late to train for a marathon or not, given that there have been numerous instances of men and women in their 70s, 80s and even 90s who have completed full marathons. They may have come dead last, not minutes but hours after the winner, but at least they were able to run a seemingly impossible distance and live to tell about it.
In politics, age may or may not be an issue. As an outsider looking in, I originally believed that Bernie Sanders had no business trying to be the Democratic nominee in the US presidential elections this year. But then I remembered Ronald Reagan as one of the best presidents in modern times, so maybe it is not so much age as mental capacity which should be a factor in running for office. After all, Reagan was a very senior senior citizen when he was POTUS.
Here in Manila, however, age should be an issue, particularly at this time.
Two senior senators who seem to hate each other’s guts have been drawing attention to themselves, one for the wrong reason and the other for a tragic one.
Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, all of 92 years of age, has been attending Senate sessions after he was allowed by the Supreme Court to post bail despite being incarcerated for a non-bailable offense. The high court said that JPE should be allowed temporary liberty because of his age as well as his frail health.
The SC was wrong. Very obviously, Enrile is not in frail health. The fact that he could attend sessions without a doctor or nurse at his side says that he is in good health for a man his age.
Since the proof of his good health is visible for all to see, there has been a growing move to have Enrile returned to his jail cell, or at least to the hospital arrest he was under prior to the SC’s unusual display of generosity.
The problem with him is that he has been wasting everyone’s time with his continued desire to gain attention. The other week, he promised a blockbuster expose against President Noynoy Aquino vis-à-vis the Mamasapano massacre.
It was a dud, but the damage had been done. Now he promises to campaign for Jejomar Binay, whom the Ombudsman has just found guilty of plunder. So either Enrile is already senile, or is being true to himself. He will protect his own skin no matter who he steps on.
His mortal enemy in the Senate, Miriam Defensor Santiago, is facing a different challenge. She is one of five candidates for president this year, but all surveys indicate that she has no chance of winning. One reason for this is her inability to mount an effective campaign.
Credible reports indicate that Santiago is facing the same health issues that prevented her from performing her duties in the Senate with any degree of consistency in the last few years. She has been frequently absent, and even when she shows up at the Senate, she appears sickly.
No doubt her mind remains as sharp as ever. But hers is the classic case of the spirit being willing but the flesh too weak.
In my book, she would have made a good president. But her time is long past. This year will mark her third try at the presidency. The first time she ran, she narrowly lost to Fidel Ramos. She lost because she did not have any political machinery to speak of.
The second time she ran, she was not even a factor. Now, history is repeating itself. Poor Senator Santiago is doomed to place last in the field of five, but looking at her qualifications she obviously is the best candidate for president. If only age had not caught up with her. But at least she can still serve as foil to Enrile in the Philippine political scene, circa 2016.