Honoring the elderly

There may have been a time you thought 40 was ancient, but if you have reached this age “category” yourself, you would probably love to bandy the thought that it is “the new 20.”

Regardless of how you feel about age, aging and the so-called elderly, there is no denying that we will reach “that certain age” sometime in our lives — if we’re lucky.

Looking at the elderly in your family, are you filled with wonder at how they manage to remain so strong and healthy even after all these years? Are you proud of their active minds and dependable wisdom, or amused by their propensity to learn new things, such as the Internet and those gadgets that even you have yet to master? Do they inspire you to live as fully as they are living, or do you worry about them?

In the world, according to the United Nations (UN), “one of every 10 persons is now 60 years or older. By the year 2050, one of five will be 60 years or older; by 2150, it will be one of three persons.”

Recognizing the needs of the elderly in the world, the UN General Assembly in 1990 designated Oct. 1 as the International Day for the Elderly. This holiday encourages everyone to pay their respects to the older people in their families and communities and tend to their special needs.

Hereabouts, Grandparents Day is celebrated every second Sunday of September, and while some may see this as another commercial creation to increase business for many establishments, it is also one day in the year when we can show appreciation for those who have spent most of their lives nurturing their families.

We Filipinos are fortunate to have been reared to always see to the needs of our elderly. We were taught to say po and opo, and to give up our seats for those older than us. We are expected to take care of our elderly, and indeed, many of us today still choose to do so rather than send them to live in nursing homes or homes for the aged.

While some may prefer to have professionals care for their elderly perhaps due to an illness that requires special care, it remains a strong Pinoy value to care for the elderly, in some cases even when they are not related to us.

In the Philippines, there were over two million elderly people (adults aged 65 years and above) recorded in 1990, according to an abstract from the Population Council of the University of the Philippines. The number grew to more than double (or 4.6 million) in 2000, according to AsiaPulse. By 2025, the elderly population is projected to rise to 7.68 million and 22 million by 2040. The elderly is said to comprise the fastest growing population segment in the country.

You might ask: how is this a problem?

Experts around the world note that a ballooning aging population may present difficulties most notably in the realm of health care. For a poor country like ours, the potential problem is compounded by the lack of facilities and services that would address this special need.

This could be why the Arroyo administration established the country’s first-ever National Center for Geriatric Health, which provides “specialized services for the elderly, many of them belonging to the marginalized sector,” a government Web site notes, adding that senior citizens “comprise 6 to 7 percent of the populace.” But that is just a start — the country needs so much more in order to meet the health care demand in the near future. The health department is hard-pressed enough to deal with outbreaks such as dengue, how much more the health needs of the elderly?

The Arroyo administration has, at least, made it much easier in other ways for the older populace. The 20 percent discount on essential goods and services (including food, medicines and doctors’ professional fees, fares, accommodations, entertainment and leisure), as well as exemption from the 12 percent value added tax (VAT), has been widely appreciated.

The updated law for senior citizens also includes a provision “that allows a 5 percent discount on monthly water and electricity bills as long as the household meters are registered under the senior citizen’s name, and consumption does not exceed 100 per kilowatt hour for electricity, and 30 cubic meters for water.”

Monthly pensions, no matter how measly, as well as insurance and burial assistance are also included in the law’s provisions. While this means an added financial burden for government, and of course the lessened tax money, but then again, it is a small sacrifice it can make for the good of its older population. What government can do is beef up its tax collection and make sure that taxes do go to where they should. –Dinah S. Ventura, Daily Tribune