JPE’s not-so-secret path to longevity

The latest in many positions that span eight administrations, including two Marcoses and two Aquinos.

For understandable reasons, many have taken interest in the health and wellness “secrets” of the 99-year-old former Senate president, and countless articles have been written about this theme. Over the years, he has indulged journalists with some responses, from eating saluyot to exercising regularly. Not surprisingly, how he coped with COVID-19 was also the subject of public attention—including his reported use of virgin coconut oil (VCO) and ivermectin.

As a medical anthropologist, I’m more interested in how these practices—and people’s perceptions of them—reflect on our society and our notions of longevity—beyond the actual efficacies, if any, of any of his prescriptions.

Some, for instance, give credence to the widely circulated rumor that he resorted to stem cell therapy.

One of the earliest explanations—at a time when his old age was only beginning to become meme-worthy— was stem cell therapy, which not to disclose the details for “security” or whatever reason? I noted the absence of details also in other newspaper reports about what Galvez reportedly presented to the committee. was itself just emerging as a medical procedure at the time.

Instead, the Business Mirror report shifted to the committee chairperson, Sen. Imee Marcos, who asked for “details of the latest plan to construct four more U.S. military bases in the Philippines as part of EDCA’s implementation.” Note that the term “U.S. military bases” is interchangeably used as “EDCA sites.” Butch Fernandez may have seen no practical difference between the two terms. And he may be correct!

Sen. Marcos echoed the concerns expressed by local government officials (Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba and Isabela Gov. Rodolfo Albano III) whose jurisdictions were reportedly designated as new EDCA sites, the report noted. Moreover, she “wonder[ed] aloud” if the inclusion of one northern province was “meant to provide the U.S. forces a footstool in case of conflict [between China and the U.S.] over Taiwan.” Taiwan is geographically closest to the northernmost tip of Cagayan province.

“In a country where many elite are obsessed with anti-ageing, wealthy Filipinos are shelling out between $12,500 and $18,000 per session of stem cell therapy in the belief it will improve their overall health and make them look younger,” as one AFP news report noted in 2013, citing Enrile as one of the patients of Villa Medica in Germany alongside Imelda and former president Joseph “Erap’’ Estrada—even as the Department of Health warned that it was an unproven anti-aging procedure.

Other therapies are less dramatic, but no less interesting. The resort to VCO, during COVID, is consistent with people’s turning to this product in past outbreaks, including the SARS outbreak in 2003; promoted by our scientists on both scientific and nationalistic grounds. As for ivermectin and its promotion by politicians, it is a clear case of what my research associate Vincen Yu and I call “pharmaceutical messianism” in a 2022 article in Social Science and Medicine.

As for Enrile’s longevity, however, I think the explanation

The point Imee Marcos raised, the report further noted, was “something that deviates from the understanding that the Philippines is expanding ties with treaty ally the U.S. mainly because of a need to boost security in the West Philippine Sea.”

In fact, last Feb. 27, Marcos Jr. called on the Armed Forces of the Philippines to defend the country’s territory in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea. He told the troops in Cebu: “Even if there is war in Ukraine, the South China Sea is said to be the most difficult and most complicated problem. That is why I said the mission of the AFP has changed. We need to safeguard those that we did not think much about previously.” Nonetheless, the Business Mirror report said, Sen. Marcos “told the Executive [her younger brother Ferdinand Marcos Jr.] to prioritize the construction of unfinished EDCA bases, noting that only five of the 21 sites previously agreed upon were far from completed.”

Way back on April 26, 2014 (or nine years ago), I wrote in this space regarding the inception of the EDCA: “The exact provisions of the agreement – the subject of is far simpler: As a man of extreme privilege, Enrile has access to the best health care, at a time when health care has progressed to greatly increase life expectancy. This is the same reason why Imelda is now 93; Duterte, 77; Erap, 85: all of the them far beyond the 72-year life expectancy of the average Filipino. Surely, regular exercise, healthy diet, and genetics are likewise important factors, but even the ability to eat well and exercise regularly require a lifestyle that many Filipinos don’t have access to.

Meanwhile, there are also popular explanations of Enrile’s longevity that verge on the mystical, most notably the adage, “Ang masamang damo mahirap mamatay.” Enrile, after all, has outlived all the major protagonists of 1986, including Cory Aquino, Cardinal Sin, Fidel Ramos, and Joma Sison. And he has survived a fake ambush, various arrests and indictments, charges of sedition and corruption; even today, he faces a plunder charge but is free because of—in the Supreme Court’s words—his “fragile health and advance age.”

Astoundingly, he has not only negotiations since 2012 – have been kept under wraps by both the U.S. and the Philippine governments. Once announced as a done deal, the agreement’s provisions should be made public for any concerned party to question and challenge –whether they are equitable, just, legal or constitutional.”

I then cited what the Department of Foreign Affairs had couched as the EDCA objectives “in terms that require definitive clarifications.” For instance:

• Increasing the presence of U.S. troops on a “rotational basis” in Philippine territory (averaging 600 armed personnel since 2002) towards developing a “minimum credible defense posture.”

• Building this minimum defense posture in order to “enhance maritime domain awareness” and to “develop a deterrence capability.”

• Developing “deterrence capability” through “highimpact and high-value” joint military exercises which promote “interoperability and capacitybuilding” that will also bolster “humanitarian assistance and disaster response.”

“The core issue in the EDCA, however,” I further wrote then, “is military access and facilities. The nationwide, claiming lives and destroying property. The public knows the risks. Fire prevention must not only be confined to a special month, but observed around the clock. (Philstar.com) managed to physically survive, he has also managed to resurrect his political career several times, losing elections in 1998 (as presidential candidate), 2001 (as senatorial candidate), and 2019 (again as senatorial candidate), only to return to the national stage in glory.

Again, in this, there is no secret other than the country’s political realities; the very fact that he is far more known for immortality than for impunity speaks of the redemptive value of longevity itself. In Philippine politics, to add to a much-used line from Harvey Dent: Either you die a hero, live long enough to see yourself become the villain—or live even longer and become a Juan Ponce Enrile. (Inquirer.net)

* * * The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

* * * glasco@inquirer.com.ph