A member of House Committee on Economic Affairs is pushing for the passage of a measure seeking to institutionalize a special work-for-pay program for senior citizens.
In House Bill 5362, or the Senior Citizens Employment Opportunity Act, Rep. Ronnie Ong of Ang Probinsyano Party-list said the private sector must be encouraged to hire senior citizens and in return, they shall be entitled to an additional tax deduction from their gross income equivalent to 70 percent of the total amount paid as wages to senior citizens, subject to compliance or the pertinent provisions of the Internal Revenue Code.
Ong said his proposal would ensure an automatic employment allocation for Filipinos aged 60 years old and above.
The bill seeks to amend Section 5 of Republic Act 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 to ensure that senior citizens whose annual income is below the poverty threshold as determined by the Philippine Statistics Authority(PSA) are given priority employment through job matches provided by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC).
HB 5362 also compels all government offices to invite, select and hire qualified senior citizens for positions, qualifications and functions initially determined by DOLE, the NCSC and the Civil Service Commission.
The measure will also encourage the private sector to hire senior citizens because they shall be entitled to an additional tax deduction from their gross income, equivalent to 70 percent of the total amount paid as wages to senior citizens subject to compliance or the pertinent provisions of the Internal Revenue Code.
Despite the various discounts and other perks currently being enjoyed by Filipino senior citizens, Ong said many of our elderly still live in abject poverty because of the lack or total absence of economic opportunities for them.
“They have discounts on food, medicine, transportation and even entertainment, but what’s the use of all these perks if our senior citizens do not have the money to spend? I really think that the government should open more economic opportunities for our senior citizens and let them enjoy life even in their twilight years,” Ong said.
Ong hopes to change this by forging a partnership with the DOLE and tap its Tulong Panghanapbuhay para sa Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program to provide employment for senior citizens in various government offices, including public schools and state universities.
Ong said this partnership will be initially launched at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), which has entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Ong for the pilot implementation of the special employment program for senior citizens.
Ong said that senior citizens who will be hired to work at the PUP will do tasks that are important but not physically strenuous for at least three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon.
Senior citizens who live around the various PUP campuses will be given priority, and their salaries will be drawn from DOLE’s TUPAD allocation.
The salaries of the senior citizen workers under this program shall be based on the minimum salary in each region. In the National Capital Region, for example, they would be paid P537 per day.
Ong said another MOA will be signed with the University of the Philippines and he is hoping that this program will be replicated in other state universities and public schools nationwide.
“I’m really happy because we can now test this program, if it is truly effective in making life easier and better for our beloved senior citizens. This is our own little way of showing our gratitude for their sacrifices,” Ong said.