Group dares Noynoy, presidential bets to take psychiatric tests

In the wake of another fraudulent report on Sen. Benigno Aquino III’s mental health, a group of “concerned citizens" on Thursday asked presidential bets, particularly the Liberal Party standard bearer, to submit themselves to psychiatric tests. The call of the Citizens for the Right to Information is the latest in the series of moves questioning Aquino’s mental stability. But the senator’s camp quickly brushed aside the call and questioned the group’s interests. In recent weeks, Aquino has been the target of allegations of having a history of poor mental health. Two fake psychiatric reports already came out suggesting that Aquino was mentally unstable or suffered from depression, but the priests who supposedly conducted the evaluation had debunked the documents’ authenticity. “The public has the right to know if the individual to whom they are entrusting their future is of sound mind and fully capable of withstanding the rigors of serving the country as its president," said retired lawyer Manuel Faelnar at a press conference in Quezon City. Those who attended the briefing were the group’s president, Pharmacy professor Ileana Cruz and Philippine Star columnist Carmen "Chit" Pedrosa, the group’s spokesperson. The group also invited Cecilia Gonzales, a psychologist. While the 1987 Constitution does not explicitly require Philippine presidents to be mentally stable, the group said the public has the right to know the psychological and psychiatric condition of their future president. Section 2, Article VII only provides that any elected president must be a natural-born Filipino citizen, a registered voter, at least 40 years old on Election Day, and a resident of the Philipines for 10 years prior to the elections. Prior to Thursday’s event, Sen. Richard Gordon had called on his fellow presidential candidates to undergo mental health tests. When asked by a reporter on Thursday when was the group formed and who are its members, a visibly irked Pedrosa raised her voice when she replied, “That is irrelevant!" Pedrosa, Faelnar, and Cruz only said they are a group of concerned citizens seeking the truth on the presidential candidates’ mental health, particularly Aquino’s. Pedrosa was known for being one of the staunchest defenders of Charter Change moves under former President Fidel Ramos’ administration at the tail-end of his presidency in 1998. “What could be simpler than if Noynoy [Aquino’s nickname] were to voluntarily submit his medical history to the public? He should allow himself to be subjected to a test from a neutral certified psychiatrist. That is the only way the issue can be put behind," she said in a statement. “But if the presidential candidate continues to stonewall such requests, the speculation will continue. People are now saying rightly that he does not want to release his medical history because he has something to hide," she added. LP: Pedrosa should have herself checked Aquino, for his part, refused to dignify the group's request. "Kapag tayo kumagat sa mali, established false, we want to make that which is false a reality. Are we not the persons who should be undergoing treatment," Aquino told reporters covering his campaign in Oriental Mindoro. He added Pedrosa had been writing about him negatively in her column. While he admitted to feeling sad after his father's death in 1983, Aquino said he never sought professional help to deal with his emotions, such as trying to exact revenge against his father's killers. "[I felt depressed] but not to the extent they are portraying. I am not a machine, I have emotions," Aquino said. The Liberal Party also turned the tables on Pedrosa and said she is the one who should have her mental health checked. “She should have herself checked instead of Senator Aquino since she had a meltdown in her own press [conference]. I seriously urge Ms. Pedrosa to consult a psychiatrist herself," Aquino's spokesman Edwin Lacierda told GMANews.TV over the phone. "I invoke my right to be informed of their group, who are their members, who's behind them and their agenda," he added. Pedrosa earlier insisted her group is “non-partisan." "I know for a fact that Philippine Star editors and columnists were very impressed when Senator Aquino visited their office. She was absent. All she has is hearsay evidence," Lacierda said. Quoting LP campaign manager Florencio “Butch" Abad, Lacierda also said, “[The group] is not after verification; it is after the vilification of Senator Noynoy Aquino." Abad also dismissed the press briefing as part of the black propaganda led by the camp of Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., whose Nacionalista Party had since denied employing dirty tricks against Aquino. “Against this backdrop, isn’t the familiar Villar black propaganda in Cheap Pedrosa’s exposé obvious," added LP campaign manager Florencio “Butch" Abad in a text message to GMANews.TV. Abad likewise lashed at those behind the two fake psychiatric reports that allegedly came from the Nacionalista Party. Last Tuesday, former National Power Corp. head Guido Delgado furnished a copy of the second report and claimed he was a Villar supporter. Last Wednesday, Lacierda sent GMANews.TV an email supposedly showing that Delgado’s wife, Joy, forwarded the first bogus report to a recipient [whose identity was kept secret by the LP] and asked that recipient to verify the report. Lacierda said he was compelled to forward the email after noticing “the same pattern" the Delgado couple supposedly followed. “At first we thought of the email as an innocent query but when we saw the same pattern, with Guido Delgado allegedly showing concern about the report but at the same time, disseminating the fake report and how we saw Mr. Guido Delgado maliciously and irresponsibly lending his name to this second fake report as part of their continuing campaign to taint Sen. Aquino," he said. ’Aberrant behavior’ At Thursday’s press briefing, Pedrosa summarized the contents of her column titled “A Clincher" published last Saturday on the Philippine Star. The piece quoted anonymous sources as citing information from other sources that Aquino displayed an aberrant behavior, particularly during the time his father, Benigno “Ninoy" Aquino Jr. was persecuted during the Marcos regime. Pedrosa said a friend from San Francisco, California told her that she had information that when the Aquino family was in Boston, Massachusetts from 1980 to 1983, Ninoy asked a certain Dr. Steven Agular to examine only son Noynoy. Ninoy died in August 1983 when he returned to the Philippines after three years of self-exile. “According to the source, his [Ninoy’s] exact words were ‘Tingnan niyo nga si Noynoy, walang ka-drive-drive (Can you examine Noynoy because he has no drive at all),’" the columnist said. Pedrosa said Agular was a psychiatrist and neurologist who worked in the psychiatric department of the Newton Wellesley College. However, Agular is already dead, Pedrosa said. But LP’s Lacierda belittled the allegations and said, “Since the Villar camp got discredited by two leading psychologists, they're using a deceased psychiatrist as part of their black propaganda." Aquino himself denied undergoing any test under Agular when his family was in Boston. GMANews.TV checked the website of Wellesley College in Massachusetts, but there is no psychiatry department. There is only a psychology department. Checking “Dr. Steven Agular" on Google does not yield search results as well. Since the first psychiatric report made rounds online last April 8, Noynoy Aquino had repeatedly denied undergoing any psychiatric test. Pedrosa likewise said another friend, who she said was one of the founders of the First Philippine Fund, told her that former President Corazon Aquino wanted Agular to be a member of the board of the investment management company. “The Chairman [Pedrosa’s source] remembered at a board meeting that Dr. Agular told him ‘Noynoy was his patient,’" Pedrosa said. The columnist also cited portions of a letter written by a certain “Tomcat," who supposedly claimed Noynoy was his classmate when they were in college at the Ateneo de Manila University. Pedrosa said that according to the letter, “Tomcat" claimed Aquino was also examined by a certain Dr. Manuel Escudero. Asked when she collected the information, Pedrosa replied it was given to her “some weeks ago." Pedrosa: Not hearsay Pedrosa also defended the contents of her column, saying that even if these were second-hand information, she could not get the first-hand information from Agular, who is dead, and from Escudero, because of the doctor-patient confidentiality agreement. “There is a patient-doctor confidentiality, that is why I am throwing it back at you [journalists]. Talking to the [doctors] is not possible," she said. Pedrosa also said that even if the Fr. Carmelo Caluag and Fr. Jaime Bulatao denied writing and signing any psychiatric evaluation on Aquino, the contents of the fake report should still be examined. “These [fake reports] remain a source of information even if Jesuits concerned deny they signed it. Even Jesuits can deny reports they do not want to acknowledge," Pedrosa said. She added that if Aquino refuses to release his medical records or undergo a psychiatry test, he should withdraw his presidential bid and follow the move of former Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton, who withdrew his candidacy for US vice president in 1972 after his bouts of depression were divulged to the public. - with reports from Jam Sisante/RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV