REPRESENTATIVE Godofredo Arquiza is pushing for the establishment of an institution that will promote and conduct research studies on aging to find solutions to the issues and challenges confronting the elderly population.
Arquiza (Party-list, Senior Citizens) authored House Bill 6884, which aims to motivate senior citizens to actively participate in nation building and to encourage their families and the communities they live in to reaffirm the Filipino value of caring for the elderly.
Citing statistics in 2010, Arquiza said approximately 6.2 million or 6.8 percent of the Philippine population are senior citizens and the number is projected to grow to 8.5 percent by 2020.
“Like in many developing countries, many Filipino senior citizens or elderly remain highly susceptible to poverty. On the other hand, a fast aging population is a serious developmental as well as demographical problem,” Arquiza said.
Arquiza said adults tend to become inactive and frail and more exposed to various illnesses in their advanced years. “It is a more pronounced concern in the case of abandoned or neglected senior citizens who are left alone with no viable means to sustain themselves,” he added.
“The situation entails pressure on our health facilities and service delivery systems to serve and protect the welfare of such a highly vulnerable sector of our society,” Arquiza said.
Under the bill, the institution shall establish collaborations and linkages with similar and allied academic and research institutions, both local and international.
The institution shall also organize and conduct information campaigns, education and training programs for the public and other stakeholders in advancement of the objectives of the proposed act.
The powers of the institution shall be vested in and exercised by a Board of Directors, chaired by the Secretary of the DOH; an Executive Director; and three scholars or specialists in the field of gerontology and aging who shall be recommended by their respective professional associations and appointed by the President of the Republic of the Philippines.