SEN. Erwin Tulfo yesterday urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to require candidates to submit medical certificates to determine if they are physically and mentally fit to hold public office.
Tulfo clarified that the candidates’ medical certificates will be kept confidential since only the Comelec will be furnished a copy.
“Maybe, Mr. Chair, we may want to consider this in the Freedom of Information Bill so that the Commission on Elections will require that [medical certificate] of every candidate. We are not trying to be discriminatory, but we need to make sure of a candidate’s mental and physical capacity to run for public office. It will be up to the Comelec to determine that,” Tulfo said during the Committee on Public Information and Mass Media organizational meeting to discuss the bills filed in relation to the People’s Freedom of Information Act.
Comelec executive director Teopisto Elnas Jr. said that asking a candidate to submit a medical certificate is not required under the law.
Elnas said the Comelec requirement for candidates filing their certificate of candidacy (COC) is basically limited only to their personal information and “sensitive” information is redacted before the COCs are uploaded to the poll body’s website.
He said the Comelec attempted to require submission of drug test results of candidates but this was shot down by the Supreme Court.
“As far as the medical status of the candidate, we are not requiring it,” Elnas added.
Tulfo said that determining candidates’ state of physical and mental health is important before they are allowed to run for office so that votes will not be wasted if they win and eventually die due to a lingering illness or if they are later found to be unfit for office due to mental health issues.
“What if a candidate is ill, if he has mental health problems. If the candidate has a disability that is not immediately apparent when he runs for a sensitive position. How can his constituents depend on him once he wins if he has mental issues? Can we unseat him despite winning in the elections?” he added.
He said the psychological condition of a candidate should be given utmost importance, adding that the Comelec has ample time to study his recommendation as the next elections will be held in 2028.
“I won’t really mind the physical condition of a candidate. Maybe he has cancer and there’s nothing we can do about it. But the psychological wellness of a candidate is very important,” Tulfo said.
He also called for the immediate passage of the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI) so that Filipinos will have the means to ask how their taxes are spent by the government.
“Our people have long been promised transparency yet today many walls still stand between them and the truth. The FOI Bill tears down those walls. It gives every Filipino the power to find out if their taxes are spent wisely and to determine who among (lawmakers or public officials) betrayed their trust,” Tulfo said.
“In this time, when we continue to uncover revelations of large-scale corruption in government, the relevance of the FOI Bill cannot be overstated. The truth is, it is the strongest weapon we can give our people, without it, there can be no real accountability,” he added.
