It’s an age-old controversy.
Peru’s government claims a local farmer is 124 years old and should instead hold the title of world’s oldest man over a 111-year-old UK citizen who Guinness World Records bestowed the title to less than a week ago.
Peruvian officials revealed Marcelino Abad Tolentino reportedly celebrated his 124th birthday on April 5, claiming the farmer was born in the year 1900, according to The Mirror.
Tolentino was discovered in a tiny village called Chaglla in 2019 and was granted a passport, a government-issued ID card and a pension.
Peru also revealed the supposed secret to how the centenarian keeps on moving.
Tolentino’s diet reportedly consists of fruits and lamb meat, and — like most in that part of the world — he enjoys chewing on coca leaves.
“Among the tranquility of the flora and fauna of Huanuco, Marcelino Abad Tolentino or ‘Mashico’ developed a healthy way of life and inner peace, reflected in his good health and friendly personality,” the Peruvian government said in a statement, South China Morning Post reported.
“This allowed him, with resilience and skill, to overcome 12 decades of life and on April 5th he just blew out 124 candles,” the government’s statement added.
The Peruvian government claims it is doing all it can to help Tolentino apply to Guinness World Records to earn the oldest person title.
Tolentino would dethrone current record-holder John Alfred Tinniswood — a great-grandfather from England who earned the title after the death of 114-year-old Juan Vicente Pérez on April 2.
Tinniswood, who is also the oldest surviving male World War II veteran, was born the same year the Titanic sank on Aug. 26, 1912.
The great-grandfather of four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren now lives at a retirement home where employees say he’s a “big chatter box.”
Contrary to Tolentino’s secrecy to helping him stay alive for years, Tinniswood admitted he doesn’t have a special diet, calling his 111 years of living “impressive luck.”
California native Branyas Morera is the world’s oldest woman at 117 years old.
Morera, born in 1907, one year after her parents emigrated from Spain to the US, celebrated her latest birthday on March 4.
