Loren: All bets should take psych tests

MANILA, Philippines – Nacionalista Party (NP) vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda on Sunday challenged all those who are running for the 2 highest positions in the country to undergo physical, psychological and emotional tests.

According to Legarda, tests like these will help determine if a candidate is emotionally ready to take on the important task of serving the country.

 

"Napakaraming mga hindi alam ng taong bayan na problema ng ibang kandidato bago nila iboto (People don’t know a lot of things about our candidates and their problems). So I think it’s just right that people become transparent about their physical and mental health as well as legal cases filed against them," Legarda told ABS-CBN News.

Legarda made the statement following the release of a fake document, supposedly signed by Fr. Carmelo "Tito" Caluag, that said Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III suffered from clinical depression in the mid-1990s. The document, which was forwarded to ABS-CBN by sources from the Nacionalista Party, alleged that Aquino has a history of smoking, drinking and the use of marijuana when he was still in his teenage years.

The Ateneo de Manila University’s (ADMU) Department of Psychology, which allegedly issued the evaluation, has already debunked the report.

“The document is false; no faculty member or other professional affiliated with the Psychology Department has ever conducted a psychiatric assessment of Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr.,” the department said.

Caluag has also branded the report as bogus, saying that he has "never been connected" Ateneo’s psychology department. The NP has denied issuing the fake report and challenged ABS-CBN to reveal its sources.

The Liberal Party, meanwhile, refused Legarda’s challenge.

Edwin Lacierda, spokesperson for Aquino’s presidential campaign, said the challenge is part of NP’s strategy to boost Legarda’s ratings in the vice-presidential race.

"They’re challenging us for the psychiatric report. That’s part of their strategy. Why would we go with their script? Senator Legarda’s riding on this issue because her numbers in the surveys are slipping after her debate with Mar Roxas at Harapan," he said.

In an online poll during ABS-CBN’s "Harapan: The Vice Presidential Debate" held last month, Legarda got the lowest score of 4%. In the said poll, viewers were asked to gauge the "truthfulness" of the answers of the vice presidential bets.

• ABS-CBN News