A lawmaker on Thursday cited the need for Congress to legislate a long-term care program to keep the elderly productive and resilient against illnesses and other risks associated with old age.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte appealed to his colleagues to support the measure mandating local government units (LGU) to work with pertinent government agencies in “crafting and implementing a long-term care program designed to keep senior citizens productive, actively engaged in their communities and resilient against illnesses plus other risks common among the elderly in their twilight years.”
“A national plan for promoting quality and long-term care and services for our elderly to keep them active and highly productive in society in their twilight years is essential to President Marcos’ vision for a prosperous nation where no Filipino is left behind,” said Villafuerte who has authored various laws benefitting senior citizens and other vulnerable sectoral groups.
Such programs should be anchored, said Villafuerte, on making essential goods, healthcare and other social services readily available to all elderly Filipinos at affordable costs, “given that poverty incidence in our country is at its highest among senior citizens, most of whom merely rely on pensions, gifts, or some allowances given by relatives to make ends meet or even have to do odd jobs to give additional financial support to their families.”
This pro-elderly proposal is contained in House Bill (HB) 7980, which Villafuerte, , president of the National Unity Party (NUP), had introduced along with Bicol Saro Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan, with the goal of requiring LGUs to work with four state agencies on putting up and running a long-term quality care program for the elderly.
The idea was “to keep them within the mainstream of society through the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Finance (DOF) by establishing and running a long-term quality care program for elderly Filipinos.”
Villafuerte also wants LGUs to work on this program with the DILG, the DWWD, the DOH, and the DOF as envisioned by HB 7980 or the “Long-term Care for Senior Citizens Act.”