There are about seven million senior citizens in this country, or roughly seven percent of our estimated 100 million population. Over the years, a lot of legislation has been passed to uphold their rights, among them Republic Act 9994 (Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010) that grants 20 percent discounts on the purchase of medicine, payment of doctors’ fees, transportation, hotels, restaurants, theaters and other establishments subject to certain guidelines, and Republic Act 10645 that provides for the mandatory PhilHealth coverage of all senior citizens.
Some local government units have also initiated activities and programs for the benefit of their elderly residents. Makati for example (and yes, whether you like him or not, you have to admit that Vice President Jejomar Binay knows how to show respect to his seniors and treats them right) gives a lot of perks to the seniors, like free admission to movie houses (at designated hours), cash gifts and trips outside the city.
However, seniors continue to suffer from discrimination in many aspects, like employment opportunities for example. In other countries, we see actors getting more plum roles when they age. Take James Spader who plays Raymond Reddington in The Blacklist, or Meryl Streep who is in a class all her own. It’s a different story here though, because older actors hardly get lead roles after they turn 60.
In other countries, you also see seniors still productive, given work in certain establishments that value their experience. Of course, if the job requires physical stamina—like that of a stevedore, then it would be understandable to prefer younger candidates.
But one of the big sources of discrimination against senior citizens comes from the health sector, with private health maintenance organizations (HMOs) which either deny coverage or refuse to renew the coverage of individuals aged 60 and above. This is an unfair policy that Pasig City representative and senatorial candidate Roman Romulo wants to correct with his proposed House Bill 6348, also known as the Anti-Healthcare Age Discrimination Act. If Romulo were to have his way, he would impose administrative fines of as much as P300,000 on HMOS that deny coverage to senior individuals.
Calling the practice “totally unfair and simply unacceptable,” Romulo invoked Section 11, Article 13 of the Constitution that mandates government to make essential healthcare services available and affordable to all, especially the elderly. According to the legislator, HMOs provide prepaid health insurance plans to enrolled members through a network of contracted hospitals and doctors. There are currently 23 HMOs doing business in the country which have a combined four million planholders.
Just recently, the supervision and regulation of HMOs had been transferred from the Department of Health to the Insurance Commission—which is why the senatorial candidate is urging the IC to compel HMOs to “accept senior citizens seeking coverage, or face financial punishment and other administrative sanctions” even without the proposed House Bill.
MPIC wins Cebu-Cordova bridge contract
It looks like a great year ahead for Cebuanos with the awarding of the P27-billion Cebu-Cordova bridge project to the group of businessman Manny Pangilinan, specifically Metro pacific Tollways Development Corp., a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
For sure, this will not be a bridge to nowhere, with Cebu Rep. Gerald Anthony Gullas hailing the decision of the local government of Cebu City, saying this will boost the productivity growth and bolster long-term economic efficiency in the province.
The project will be the third bridge between mainland Cebu and Mactan, the country’s most densely populated island. “We are counting on the new bridge to help reduce the cost of producing goods and services, and minimize productivity losses due to traffic congestion,” Gullas, an assistant majority leader, enthused.
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