Children’s hospital to hire senior citizens for social projects

The Philippine Children’s Medical Center on Quezon Avenue in Quezon City. (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Employment opportunities will be given to senior citizens for community projects of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC).

This was after PCMC, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Ang Probinsyano party-list, and the Quezon City local government inked a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on Monday to employ senior citizens in the hospital.

“Most of senior citizens still have the capacity to work and can still contribute to the development of our country by sharing their knowledge and experiences to the younger workforce,” PCMC executive director Julius Lecciones said in a statement.

Lecciones said the senior citizens will be “patient navigators” who will assist patients and parents in the hospital.

He also assured they will be “deployed to areas that are safe for the elders and will be provided with free meals while on duty.”

The senior citizens will be employed under DOLE’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Displaced/Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) program.

The said program provides emergency employment to displaced or terminated workers, the underemployed, seasonal workers, and self-employed workers who have lost their livelihoods due to natural calamities or economic crisis.

For their rendered work, qualified senior citizens will receive compensation equivalent to the minimum daily wage of a Metro Manila employee.

Edited by KGA