Search For the Oldest Living Filipino

I blogged a while back about this supposed 117-year old GSIS pensioner who, if his age were validated, would be the oldest person alive in the world. I remain very skeptical about this claim, which no news outlet followed up on (although strangely enough, the story was picked up by the Mexican media) but it did complement my own fascination with longevity, and my own curiosity as to who the oldest Filipino alive may be. As far as I know, the oldest Filipino alive is Mary Ejercito, the 103-year old mother of President Estrada, but certainly there is someone out there older than that.

If you know of relatives, relatives of friends, or relatives of strangers who are really old Filipinos (105 and above, living or deceased), feel free to post in the comments, and maybe it could soon lead to the discovery of the oldest Filipino alive, or even the oldest person ever. The Guiness-recognized oldest person ever is Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years, 164 days. But already, I know anecdotally of two Filipinos who might have surpassed that age.

Story A: Sometime in 1987-1988, some of my grade school classmates went on a field trip to a retirement shelter within Metro Manila (I don't remember which, but it wasn't Hospicio de San Jose). One of the people they saw there was a bedridden lady who was claimed to be at least 124 years of age. Guinness-freak that I was even then, I remember chortling in disbelief, surely she can't be older than Shigechiyo Izumi (then recognized as the oldest person ever at 120 years). But I was told that this lady had her original birth or baptismal certificate posted on her bedpost, confirming that she was indeed 124 years of age. As far as I know, nobody in the media ever picked up on this story.

Story B: About 300 meters from the main entrance (along Bonifacio Avenue) of Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina, there is a headstone for a Mr. Reyes, first name I've forgotten, which identifies his year of birth as 1868, and his year of death as 1991. I have seen this grave several times, as it lay a stone's throw away from my grandfather's former gravesite, and I've peered closely each time I sighted it, wanting to make sure I did not misread the dates. It could very well be that the year on the tomb was misprinted by its engraver. The gravesite though is well maintained and likely still visited by family, who would probably insist on changing the stone if it were indeed inaccurate. Interestingly, the grave is right beside that of legendary Supreme Court Justice J.B.L. Reyes, so it is possible that Mr. Reyes is related to the late Justice, who himself lived into his nineties.

Less record-setting, but still impressive, I remember one of my high school teachers telling us her grandfather (of Indian descent), had lived to around 119 years old. I doubt my well-respected teacher was fibbing, though it is possible that her family might have believed wrongly about his age (My own grandmother, for years, insisted she was born in 1916, until her birth certificate revealed she was actually born one year later). Certainly, there are many similar stories out there of people who know people who had achieved, at least, supercentenarian status.

For now, the oldest Filipino ever for whom there is reasonable certainty of her age was Tandang Sora, who lived to be 107 years, 55 days old (though it is possible even that her date of birth could be challenged is closely scrutinized). As indicated by the stories above, there likely is an older Filipino, maybe even one still alive to this day. If you know of one, feel free to post here.