Mar Roxas is the ‘fittest’ candidate

The campaign team of presidential candidate, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, may have stumbled upon the elusive answer to the question “how do we put our candidate ahead in the race?”

The answer may have come a few days ago when another presidential aspirant, current Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, reportedly succumbed to the pressure of the campaign, suffering from migraine and dizzy spells.

There were also earlier reports that Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago had to leave the campaign rally in Ilocos Norte, and had to be rushed back to Manila.

Such incidents raised questions on the state of these candidates’ health and their ability to finish the campaign and govern the country in the event they won the elections.

Similar questions have been raised regarding Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is the most advanced in years among the presidential aspirants.

The elusive answer to the question is: Fan the issue of the health and physical fitness of the presidential candidates.

It is possible that if this were the measure that must be applied in selecting the country’s next president, Roxas would come up on top. He is probably the fittest among them all—physically, that is.

He may even be more physically fit than Sen. Grace Poe. Given the sword of Damocles that hangs over her head, Poe must be going through debilitating physical and emotional pressure.

Interesting that it is only Roxas who has not had to deal with issues on health and fitness.

So, there you go. Here is an issue that Roxas’s beleaguered campaign team may now finally be able to latch on.

This is a valid issue. Filipinos deserve to be governed by the President of their choice for the entirety of the term prescribed by law. We cannot have a President who cannot do so and who would have to hand over the reins of government to the Vice President.

We cannot afford to go once more through the instability and uncertainty that come with having an unelected, acting President occupying Malacañang.

If the Roxas campaign team is to capitalize on this “competitive advantage,” it should do so right away.

The most recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) polls showed their candidate continues to trail Poe, Binay and Duterte, ahead only of Santiago.

With less than 90 days to go before the May elections, there are doubts that heavy advertising expenditure could still work to get Roxas to overtake his rivals.

Roxas trails them, despite the issue of the possible disqualification of Poe dragging in the Supreme Court. Roxas continues to lag behind his rivals, despite the sustained assault on Binay, based on allegations of graft and corruption. Roxas is still in fourth, despite the apparent organized demonization of Duterte, particularly in social media.

This means no matter how much is spent to air old issues against his rivals or to prop up his image, Roxas might just continue to bite the dust. Roxas needs something new to raise against them and the physical fitness row just might do the trick.

Meanwhile, we can only commiserate with the soft-spoken vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo.

It looks like she will have difficulty catching up with the frontrunners in the race for the No. 2 post. The way things are going, Sen. Bongbong Marcos appears to be headed for the top spot in the pre-election surveys.

Marcos has been gaining ground and is zooming to the top of the heap, despite the persistent vilification campaign anchored on the alleged abuses committed during the Martial Law era.

Robredo is facing the same problem that Roxas does. The worst has been thrown against her rival, yet she has not overtaken Marcos. What else can the Robredo team do to put her rival down and raise her ratings?

The presidential debates, which will be covered by television, are coming soon.

It is best for the candidates to understand that the bigger chunk of the viewing public won’t be interested in the euphemisms and the statistics some of them would be rattling off to prove intellectual superiority.

The debates will simply be tapped as an opportunity to appreciate their character and for the public to find out whom they really can trust most.

The debates will be a duel of demeanor and a contest of character.

If Roxas’s team is smart enough, the debates could be turned into a showcase of physique and physical well-being.

No doubt, Roxas could emerge the fittest.

Physically, of course.