So what do questions about President Rodrigo Duterte’s health, the public backlash over the proposed “unlimited rice” ban and the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) “Slim Possible” program have in common?
All of them have something to do with protecting public health and the health of our elected officials and police officers on which we all hold different opinions.
In President Duterte’s case, it is about him not being visible to the public for days now after visiting the troops and the families whose loved ones died
on the streets of Marawi City in the ongoing battle against the Maute terrorists.
While public concern and bewilderment over the President’s health had been raised mostly by his most vocal critics with leading opposition officials giving mostly muted statements wondering where he was, the Palace’s release of photos showing the President looking fine had set those questions to rest.
In his 70s, President Duterte is anything but a spring chicken, and allowances should be made for his health as far as public appearances and visits are concerned.
His critics know that he gets quite testy when questions arise about his health, and there were times that he did get to experience some episodes of fatigue during the campaign period.
Still, his presence visiting the troops and the families did at least demonstrate to the public his commitment to them, something which his much younger predecessor failed to do particularly during the Mamasapano massacre fallout.
President Duterte also mentioned his daily one-hour routine of using the treadmill prior to his work, which is something a lot of the couch potatoes and slackers who are less than half his age cannot even finish without losing their breath.
Speaking of exercise, the PNP program requiring police personnel to slim down isn’t just intended for appearances but for their overall health and performance. A slimmer, healthier police is better suited to chase down and overpower criminals than those comfortably stuck behind the desks in their air-conditioned offices.
Along with a regular exercise regimen and a commitment to cut down on the flab, police and soldiers in particular, as well as the public, can probably benefit from alternative consumption of root crops to replace their intake of rice which is supposedly getting scarce.
Filipinos, especially Visayans, have other options like rice made out of corn and sweet potato to further stretch their diet and provide them a steady supply of fiber.
Issues on health gain importance whenever a public official, an agency or a substantial number of the country’s population is affected; but it also reflects on us, the public, who sometimes take them for granted due to other pressing problems that require immediate attention.
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