The country is transitioning towards an ageing society but institutional care facilities are not yet widely available.
This was one of the many pressing concerns raised by United Senior Citizens, a party-list that seeks to uphold the welfare and rights of the senior citizens.
In a press statement by the United Senior Citizens Party List reecently, 2nd nominee Rolleo Ignacio said the country’s older people’s (OP) count is fast growing and there must be clear-cut programs that aim to support and take care of the senior citizens.
USC or #11 in the ballot, is a new comer and one of the very few organizations that champions the welfare of the senior citizens in the country.
With the impending growth in numbers of aging Filipino or the senior citizens, the group believes that the older people should be given utmost priority of the government and accorded the benefits and services they deserve.
Though the group admits that the current administration has made considerable improvements to uplift the wellbeing of the older people, they also stressed the OP are missing out on array of unmet services.
Among those missed benefits is a substantial health care, which the group considered as a paramount concern if not the most urgent.
Records show health insurance coverage remains low, particularly among older people. Oral health care for senior citizen, while it may seem trivial, is something that the government must also give due attention.
In lieu of these, USC vowed to make sure that they will do everything within their mandate to legislate laws, create programs, and initiate activities that will ensure welfare of the senior citizens and their loved ones.
“We cannot neglect our elderlies, we love them because they have done so much for the country and most of all for our families, it is our duty and responsibility to return the favor and take care of them the best way we know,” Ma Ignacio said.
Currently, an estimated 8 million people aged 60 and above and around 4 million aged 65 and above account for an estimated 12 percent of the country’s ballooning population.
The reality of a possible increase in the number of older Filipinos requiring long term care as the population ages must be confronted now by preparing human resources, facilities and institutional policies to provide the needed services.
The Filipino senior citizens only survive and thrive because of the family-based, most of the time, female-dominated household interventions and care.
“These only shows that what our older people need is love and care, more than anything. We can have all the policies and regulations initiated for them but without genuine love and affection for them, these institutional frameworks may not be enough, Ignacio explained.
The United Senior Citizens, however clarified that it is not downplaying the role of the government and its institutions in providing the best healthcare and other services the senior citizens need.
They also appealed to the public to accord the older people their privileges in accordance with the law and warned to go after those who continue to ignore these policies and provisions.
The partyy-list nominees are Magsaysay, Rolleo Ignacio and Perlita Viernes, who are all dedicated leaders in their communities.