Filipino elderly most neglected

The Filipino elderly, now numbering about 4.5 million, and projected to grow to an estimated 14.5 million by year 2020, is the most neglected sector in Philippine society.

"It is so hard in this country once one grows old. I can remember the day my husband was sick and I was left nowhere to go for 1,000 pesos ($20) to pay his hospital bills," said 58-year-old Betriz Guaño, yesterday.

Guaño, from the Sangandaan Elderly Organisation in Manila's northern suburb of Caloocan City, said most of the elderly lived below the poverty line.

Speaking at a weekly media forum on Saturday, Guaño said that the 20 per cent discount privilege offered to senior citizens is not enough to assure them a decent life.

"We also need burial benefits, livelihood programmes, education, health, housing and pension to sustain our daily lives."

Living below the poverty line means eating less than three meals a day. In the Human Development report of the United Nations Development Programme, the Philippines only spends 0.4 per cent on health from its gross national product.

Dionisia Balugo, of the Jasmin Elderly Group from suburban Quezon City, said: "We feel sad that when death comes to someone we cannot even afford a decent burial."

Research put out by the University of the Philippines Population Institute shows the 4.5 million Filipino elderly - aged 55 years and above - do not enjoy social benefits. Of this number, only 47.4 per cent are either receiving pensions or are still gainfully employed. This means that the remaining 52.6 per cent have to rely on their families for economic support when they are no longer able to fend for themselves," said the study.

The Coalition of Services of the Elderly, a non-government organisation helping them said that the growing number of elderly is not limited to the Philippines, but worldwide.

By the year 2050, there will be more older people than children in the world, with the majority in Asia.

Edward Gerlock, the organisation's advocacy officer, said for every baby born there will be three adults entering the category of 'older people'.

Gerlock said the Philippines in recent years has experienced massive rural to urban migration, with 58.5 per cent of the people now living in urban areas, mostly in poor areas.

"This is an increasingly common phenomenon of old age under fire where old people face demolitions, beg at a traffic intersection and sleep on rented beds on the sidewalks," he said.