MANILA, Philippines — The country would have an “aging population” between 2030 and 2035, an official from the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) said Monday.
CPD Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez revealed this during a Senate committee hearing on the bill seeking to establish a national commission of senior citizens.
Perez noted that senior citizens in the country — those aged 60 years old and above — currently accounts for 8.2 percent of the population, which means that the Philippines is “beginning to age.”
“Once a country reaches 14 percent (senior citizens) of the population then it is an aging society and we will hit 14 percent between 2030 and 2035, which is less than 20 years from now,” Perez said during the hearing.
“In this country, we are slowly and inevitably going to begin to age by 2035,” he added.
Perez noted that other countries are already developing policies to address the growing elderly population.
“We need to develop policies, address developmental issues that affect the older population before it is too late,” Perez said.
“I believe it’s important for the country to start thinking not only of the welfare of the older population but also their role in development and possible contribution not just for welfare,” he added.
The CPD executive noted that more than half or 55 percent of the country’s senior citizen population have no pension. Meanwhile, only 23 percent receive pension from the private sector, while six percent receive pension from the government. About 16 percent receive a social pension of only P500.
Those without pension, he said, are automatically labeled as persons living in poverty.
“We have to address the fact that older persons who have little or no income relying on pension have the highest cost when it comes to caring for their disabilities,” he said.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and other organizations involved in the care and welfare of senior citizens have manifested their support for the creation of a commission for senior citizens during the Senate hearing.
The DSWD said that a commission would be “more focused” to policy-making and lobbying for legislative action that would benefit the senior citizens.
“A commission would be more focused, a commission would have an oversight function. So when it comes to policy-making, when it comes to introducing affirmative legislative action, or any other policy formulation, a commission would be a better position to do that,” DSWD Undersecretary Luzviminda Ilagan said during the hearing. /ee