Seniors, let’s party! (Sabong News)
Author
Jullie Y. Daza
Date
APRIL 26 2022
There are 10 million senior citizens, and if most of them are qualified voters – going by the age requirement, they are 100 percent eligible – do you suppose they’ll be voting as one for the one and only Senior Citizens Party-list?
As it happens the SCP-list is just about the only party-list that is defined clearly by its registered name, no ifs and buts, and its avowed advocacy, no ifs and buts, which are plain enough: enact laws for the benefit of senior citizens, i.e., those 60 years old and above.
Fortunately for SCP, whose nominee is Rep. Rodolfo “Ompong” Ordanes, two attempts to replicate its character or personality – if only by a similarity in nomenclature – did not get Comelec’s vote. The best way to justify Ompong’s enthusiasm is to list SCP’s achievements and what it can still do. For starters, the universal pension for seniors living without an income is P1,000; the plan is to increase it to P2,000. Under current laws, centenarians receive a longevity gift of P100,000; the plan is to reward 101-year-olds with a P1 million windfall. While waiting for that 100
th
birthday to come, seniors may hope for a P25,000 bonus as soon as they turn 80.
In addition, Ompong vows to work for a P500 monthly stipend for seniors’ maintenance medicines and free chemo and dialysis treatments (under the present law, only 90 of the required 144 dialysis sessions are free of charge). Additionally, they’ll need a geriatric hospital and a modern home for the aged; a priority lane for seniors at public transportation hubs; buses with one or more seats reserved, free, just for them.
A bill for “elderly employment” is also in the works, for which they will be exempted from paying income tax. Employment means mobility, so perhaps a priority lane for seniors at transport hubs and bus seats reserved for them?
What’s good about this wish list is that everything on it is doable!
Unlike party-list representatives whose backgrounds don’t jibe with their messages, Ompong is a case of what you see is what you get. As head of Quezon City’s office of the assessor, he helped property owners by simplifying procedures, cutting red tape and under-the-table deals. What’s not to like?
