Hontiveros pushes for cash aid expansion to cover all seniors

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a resolution urging the government to expand its social amelioration program (SAP) to cover all families with senior citizens to help ease their financial burdens inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“An overwhelming majority of our senior citizens are poor. The quarantine exposes and magnifies their physical and financial vulnerabilities,” Hontiveros said as an introduction in Senate Resolution No. 370 that she filed on April 27, a copy of which was sent to reporters on Wednesday.

Her resolution also urged the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) “to prioritize older persons living alone with her spouses, those living alone unaccompanied, and the homeless.”

Under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act of 2020, a cash subsidy ranging from P5,000 to P8,000, depending on prevailing regional minimum wage rates, shall be given to 18 million low-income families for two months.

The government’s cash aid covers, among others, indigent senior citizens and low-income families with senior citizens.

But Hontiveros said all families with seniors should also be included.

She cited a Longitudinal Study of Ageing and Health in the Philippines, which showed that while a significant number of senior citizens depend on financial support from their children, a “vast majority of older persons… experienced considerable difficulty in making ends meet.”

Hontiveros also pushed for the inclusion of senior citizens receiving support from their children.

“Their non-inclusion is counter-productive to the goals of the Social Amelioration Program. Individuals supporting senior citizens already face difficulty in making ends meet prior the economic stress brought by the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

“The inclusion of all senior citizens in the SAP is an appropriate response to the urgent needs of our elderly,” she added.

Citing data from the Department of Health (DOH), Hontiveros noted that of the 6,981 COVID-19 cases recorded as of April 23, 28.55 percent are senior citizens and that 68.61 percent of reported deaths at the time are among the elderly.

“Older persons  are disproportionately affected by the ongoing health crisis and the consequent Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) not only for their health vulnerabilities but also because most of them are impoverished as well,” she said.

As of April 28, Philippine health officials have confirmed 7,958 COVID-19 cases in the country.

Of the number, 975 have recovered while 530 have died.

EDV