TWO groups on Wednesday called on the Quezon City government to pass three proposed ordinances that would benefit the city’s senior citizens and persons with disability (PWDs).
Records of the Quezon City Council showed that 16 percent, or 485,414, of the city’s 2,970,562 population are senior citizens.
In a legislative forum, the participants, led by Rosita Lacson, president of the Quezon City Alliance of Health Advocates; Alex Mendoza, president of the PWD Federation Quezon City; and Asuncion de la Cruz, senior citizen focal person of Barangay Tatalon, urged the Quezon City Council to prioritize the passage of ordinances that would benefit their sectors.
The three proposed ordinances are those on the establishment of a Senior Citizen Outpatient Department and Diagnostic Medical Center; the profiling and registration of PWDs; and the appointment of Medical Health Officers in every barangay in Quezon City.
Mendoza noted that in Australia, senior citizens are only charged a fare of A$1 for their trip to a distance similar to the distance from Quezon City to Baguio City or Batangas. He wished the city’s senior citizens would be accorded the same privilege.
Lacson said it is time for the city to profile its senior citizens and PWDs so that their respective concerns could be addressed by the city government.
Meanwhile, de la Cruz said only 35 doctors are attending to the health needs of residents of the city’s 142 barangays.
She added it is about time more doctors are sent to the barangays so that senior citizens and PWDs who need medical attention would be attended to properly.
Lawyer Jojo Conejero, legislative staff of Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, told the participants there are 130 vacant positions for doctors in the city, but only 54 are plantilla positions.
An ordinance also mandates the barangays to allocate 1 percent of their budget for senior citizens and PWDs, he said, adding that non-compliance would lead to the non-approval of the barangay’s budget.
During the forum, the participants were informed the city has a P21.5-billion proposed budget, 1 percent or P215 million of which would benefit senior citizens and PWDs.
Of the P215 million, P82 million will be for senior citizens’ welfare services, P26 million for personnel and miscellaneous and other operating expenses of the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs, P16 million for the Persons with Disability Affairs Office, and the rest for various services and departments of the city government.