Poll bets must disclose state of health – Palace

Malacañang on Thursday said electoral candidates should disclose their health condition following the statement of former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Dionisio Santiago that narcopolitics prevails in the country.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said it is not only important for the public to know that candidates are not linked to illegal drugs use but are also in the pink of health.

“What is important for the country is to have leaders whose health condition should be something that should be disclosed,” Lacierda said.

“You are going to lead a country with so many problems, and because of our experiences again in Martial Law where President Marcos disclosed his mortal illness — that there were certain times in his governance na hindi pala natin alam malubha na pala ang sakit [that we were not aware he has an illness] — that the constitutional commissioners of the 1987 Constitution deemed it proper to insert a provision, which says that they should disclose their health,” he said.

“Is that unreasonable to ask from our candidates? I think that’s a fair requirement for all, for the candidates to disclose their health record,” he added.

“I don’t know what the specific drug test is but when I say ‘health,’ I would like to believe that it involves the entire condition. You may be not using drugs but you may be suffering from a mortal illness,” Lacierda pointed out.

Some political analysts earlier expressed their concern on the health issues of some presidential candidates.