LAGAWE, IFUGAO– Board Member Robert Humiwat is optimistic about the effort of improving the conditions of senior citizens in Ifugao. Five others in the powerful and influential legislative wing of the provincial government shared his sentiment.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) recently approved an ordinance outlining the provision of Php 1,000 each year to indigent senior citizens in Ifugao.
It was authored by Board Member Humiwat. Board Members Clemente Bongtiwon, Geronimo Bimmohya, Federico Juguiad Jr., Noli Maguiwe and Robert Mangyao co-authored the ordinance.
Humiwat said the immediate and appropriate funding of the measure is important that thousands of cash-strapped senior citizens suffering from illnesses or being burdened by the difficult economic times will be sufficiently supported this year.
Analysts and observers said the measure reflects the Sangguniang Panlalawigan’s commitment to the national government’s socioeconomic development agenda.
“Today, on behalf of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, we would like to formally inform the people the output of our efforts, proof that we are committed to working together towards the improvement of living standards of our elderly, most especially the poor,” Humiwat said.’
“In my heart I feel like I am really just answering the needs and wants of our impoverished senior citizens through legislated action,” he told the ZigZag Weekly.
“It is a matter of public knowledge for the past several years that many of them are experiencing great difficulties making both ends meet. This can easily be verified with official records and other means,” he added.
The proponents noted that “it becomes fitting and necessary for the provincial government to do its share I n promoting the general welfare of the senior citizens in Ifugao, in particular those indigent senior citizens.”
Humiwat, who is also active in pursuing poverty reduction programs, talked about the latest initiative by the 10-member SP, which seeks to upgrade the plight of poor senior citizens.
Humiwat said that the SP only wants the elderly sector in the province’s 11 towns be taken out of the poverty list.
“In fact, in the first place, they don’t deserve to be in the said list and so it’s the SP’s way of showing we should provide concrete assistance to our less fortunate brothers and sisters,” Humiwat asserted.
The ordinance, otherwise known as the Indigent Senior Citizens Assistance Program, is anchored on pertinent provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution as well as Republic Act 7432, Republic Act 9257 and Republic Act 9994.
To achieve the measure’s objectives, proponents tapped the province’s 11 Senior Citizens Associations and parallel Municipal Federations of Senior Citizens Associations to facilitate various tasks related to the issuance of the financial assistance to said beneficiaries. The Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs, Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office, the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office, mayors and treasurers are also involved.
An oversight committee shall be created thus, will reveal if the implementation of the ordinance will happen or not.
“The senior citizens have been a pillar of the economic progress of our nation and so it is high time to provide the much-needed assistance to them,” said Humiwat, chairman of the committee on budget and appropriations.
There are nearly 7.5 million senior citizens in the Philippines.
As one of the charismatic leaders in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Humiwat has stood side-by-side, hand-in-hand with senior citizens for so many years.
“There must be an ample support system in consideration of the basic needs of poor senior citizens,” said the board member of Lamut, who has been advocating to institutionalize other programs for them.
Humiwat, an articulate and steadfast fiscalizer at the SP, believes that aged Filipinos can go a long way in performing the task of nation-building if you support their financial needs.
“It is my firm belief that senior citizens will greatly help in developing communities with the end view of uplifting the lives of many others,” explained Humiwat.
Poverty remains a serious and life-threatening problem in Ifugao. Efforts to significantly lift people out of poverty have failed. The decline in number of poor senior citizens is a mere illusion. Furthermore, a good number of impoverished senior citizens have experienced involuntary hunger due to lack of food to eat. Clearly, high prices have contributed to the incidence of hunger. What is called for is a special effort to mobilize resources, which are not lacking at the SP, for the purpose of curbing instances of “moderate hunger” and “severe hunger” being felt in their midst as well as number of “food- poor” elderlies and redefining priorities on the basis of which political and economic choices are made. For short, the incoming provincial government officials by 2019 should work triple time to address hunger and poverty.
All told, the Php 1,000 “financial assistance” being given to poor elderlies is a measly amount to mitigate their plight. It is well below the ideal mark. But if one thinks Php 1,000 is not too small, that’s just the start of breaking the figure on a daily level. A cash-starved elderly is to receive Php 2.70 a day. It is not even enough to buy two pandesals at Php 2 each. The purchasing power of the peso is too low, no need to know exactly how much. There are more practical solutions to really help them. Providing safeguards to help them adjust to the high cost of living can only be the result of increased budgetary allocation of at least Php 6,000 from the current one. In doing so, there will be a chance for them to have extra money and breathing space because the Php 1,000 is simply not commiserate to spiraling prices of basic goods and services.
How can the vicious cycle of poverty now engulfing countless elderlies in Ifugao be broken? Provide them economic opportunities and pursue good governance in the provincial and municipal levels.
National revenues do not trickle down to those at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, to include the elderlies. That is why the urgency to infuse a greater sense of social justice easily arises, in order to implement a more equitable distribution of goods as well as sharing of the nation’s wealth and opportunities.
Beyond rhetoric of underperforming politicians, supplemental budget for “urgent priority programs” of the elderly sector should also be considered. Excess revenues should be earmarked to finance additional projects for this sector, most especially in remote villages.
The key to all of this is the exercise of political will at all times.
An increasing number of Filipinos value the emergence of competent officials with strong and firm hands in making sure that things get done— leading to, marked improvement of the people’s lives.
Now the challenge is putting them into office in 2019 throughout Ifugao. Can it be done? How does one solve a lingering problem of incompetence in government circles by asking the uneducated ones to devise a plan?
Elsewhere in the Philippines, competent, intelligent and well-meaning officials have emerged in the political scene. Why not in Ifugao?
All other arguments in connection therewith shall be deemed to be timely and relevant and that matter in question shall meant to be the heart of turning around Ifugao’s fortunes.
Because of the presence of Board Members Humiwat and Bongtiwon, Ifugao folks should have the courage to sound the need for the passage of quality laws for the benefit of the marginalized sectors.
Humiwat, with a passion to advance the cause of the elderly, vowed to consult regularly with members and officials of various senior citizens groups in the province.
Senior citizens associations officials in Banaue, Hingyon, Hungduan, Kiangan and Lamut lauded the SP after the third-reading vote, making it just a short step away from becoming a law. The ordinance’s effectivity is 15 days from its approval date.
Results and guidance from the measure’s proponents could boost the elderly sector.
Humiwat sees better times for poor senior citizens than the more affluent ones as a whole as a new round of price hikes is likely to take its toll on low-income workers. To top it all, a number of hapless elderlies are heavily burdened by the fact that some pharmacies in the province continue to deprive them of their 20% discount privilege when purchasing vital medicines.
How poor are the poor elderlies in Ifugao? Is it that important to help them? Having been long overlooked by the officialdom, many are glad that Board Member Humiwat and his colleagues finally took a decisive action to address this longstanding problem. They are further hoping that support for the elderly go beyond the end of this ordinance.
In a related development, Board Member Bongtiwon said it is time to seriously take into consideration the things that can be done to fast-track the facilitation of pensions of Government Social Insurance System (GSIS) retirees.
“If acted upon at the soonest time, this program is going to work well for our countrymen,” he pointed out.
Bongtiwon, chairman of the committee on social welfare development and people’s organizations, has been relentlessly pushing for his advocacy on the elderly.
He has repeatedly sought a better pension package for GSIS retirees. “We are one at the SP that we show demonstrate anew to the province the importance of the elderly sector,” Bongtiwon told the ZigZag Weekly in an exclusive interview.
Also, Bongtiwon “manifested his intention of bringing to reality other pro-elderly ordinances and resolutions in the coming months.”
According to the lawmaker of Banaue, “the passage of these laws would be beneficial to the elderly.”
There is also a strong clamor for funding of projects intended for senior citizens. Projects for the elderly will not only secure their daily sustenance but will also help boost the Philippine economy by creating employment and livelihood opportunities.**By Anthony A. Araos
