Utterly wrong in any society but not really covered by a specific law, the maltreatment of senior citizens usually goes unreported and unpunished, the victim being too weak or frail to complain.
But in Valenzuela City, a draft ordinance imposes jail terms on anyone proven to have abused the elderly.
First District Councilor Corazon Cortez has authored a measure seeking to protect senior citizens from the following: physical harm, deprivation of financial support, public ridicule and “pressure” that affects their decision-making ability.
The proposal is now under deliberation in the city council.
Residents found to have committed the acts cited in the ordinance could be sent to jail for one to six months, with a corresponding fine.
Cortez noted that more serious crimes against senior citizens—such as killing or planning to kill them—are already covered by the provisions on parricide, homicide and murder in the Revised Penal Code.
The “lesser offenses” listed in the draft measure are not yet punishable under the law, the councilor explained.
Cortez stressed the importance of safeguarding the rights of senior citizens since they are generally defenseless against abuse.
“Abuses of elderly persons are severely underreported, as many of them are dependent on their abusers and they fear being abandoned and sent to an institution for the elderly, ” she said.
According to the city government, the local halfway house, known as Bahay Kalinga, is home to 10 elderly residents abandoned by their families.
A total of 33,135 senior citizens live in Valenzuela City, according to data from the local government’s Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs.