STRESSING THAT HE IS FIT to serve another term as city chief executive, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim yesterday denied persistent talk that he was not well.

The state of Lim?s health has been the subject of speculation during the past few years, with rumors peaking each time he leaves on official trips abroad.

The 80-year-old Lim dismissed the rumors as ?black propaganda,? saying he expects his rivals to use the issue against him now that the campaign for the May 2010 elections is about to begin.

Lim?s reelection bid will be challenged by his predecessor and former Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, and former Philippine National Police chief Gen. Avelino ?Sonny? Razon.

?They should stop making up stories about my allegedly failing health,? he said. ?Na-stroke daw ako, may cancer; meron pa ngang balita na namatay na daw ako. Baka mauna pa sila sa akin.?

?Just recently, I attended a wedding in Tagaytay. Text messages quickly spread that I was rushed to the hospital after the wedding,? he revealed.

Lim said the rumors started during the 2007 local elections when he ran against much younger mayoral bets, like Atienza?s son, Arnold ?Ali? Atienza.

?They said I was too old and that I should give way to the young. I just laughed it off. They should just learn to respect and show gratitude to their elders, instead of making fun of them,? he said.

Lim said text messages about his ill health circulated when he went to the United States to attend a mayors? meeting during the early part of his term; when he went to China upon the invitation of the Chinese Embassy and when he went to Taiwan for the proclamation of its new president.

The mayor took pride in saying that he was the only candidate who did a house-to-house campaign in 2007.

?No other candidate did that,? he added, as he vowed to resume his house-to-house visits during the campaign period.