TACLOBAN CITY—The number of registered senior citizens in this city who are availing themselves of social pensions has increased dramatically over the year.
Data from the city’s Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (Osca) showed registered social-pension beneficiaries now number 4,810 as of the end of the third quarter this year compared to 1,950 in 2016, or more than double the previous year.
Tacloban City Mayor Cristina Romualdez attributed the increase of beneficiaries to the extensive campaign of the City Social Welfare Office to enroll indigent senior citizens to the government pension program.
“The welfare of our elderly will always be among the top priorities of the city government,” she said. The city government is mandated to provide senior citizens a pension of P6,000 a year. Tacloban also provides medical and burial assistance to the city’s indigent elderly.
On October 1 hundreds of senior citizens participated in a parade, dubbed “Walk for Life”, around the city’s downtown area to drumbeat support for a series of activities in celebration of the Elderly Filipino Week.
The weeklong activities that will run until Saturday also include a consultation dialogue regarding Republic Act (RA) 9994, or the expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, scheduled Thursday. Dialogue participants included owners of local establishments, transport operators and other government agencies talked on issues and concerns pertaining to benefits and privileges of senior citizens as mandated by law.
This year’s celebration, with the theme “Pagkilala Sa Kakayahan, Ambag At Paglahok ng Nakakatanda sa Lipunan”, will include a medical mission and the Search for King Lolo and Queen Lola 2017.
The series of activities were sponsored by the Osca, in coordination with the Tacloban City Federation of Senior Citizens Associations and the city government.
Proclamation 470, issued by then-President Fidel V. Ramos in 1994, started the yearly celebration of Elderly Filipino Week, with the aim of raising awareness on RA 9994 and to address issues concerning the elderly sector.
Image credits: Roy Domingo