Serving with honor.

MY  APPEAL TO INCLUDE ALL SENIOR CITIZENS in the GRANT OF GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY DURING THE ENHANCED COMMUNITY QUARANTINE

WARNING: The manuscript is long, I beg your indulgence and patience

 I do not know if I am at liberty to make an appeal as I am not yet a senior citizen, but my mother is. She is 82 years old now.  But this is not only about my mother. This is about all the senior citizens out there.

The ECQ provided me more time to be with my computer.  And I have religiously followed the issues attendant to Covid19.  One of the trending topics right now is the grant of the P200 Billion subsidy by the government to those qualified sectors under the Bayanihan Act and the JMC No. 1 series of 2020.  This issue is a contentious one and becoming divisive, driving a wedge among those who are qualified and those who think they are qualified but excluded in the implementation.

There are 17 or more sectors identified in the guidelines, one of which is the sector of senior citizens.  For senior citizens to qualify, they should belong to a low income household first.

It is along this light that I am making this appeal to include all senior citizens in the grant of subsidy or any kind of support.  I suggest that age as shown in their identification card be the only requirement and that all 60 years old and above be qualified. Allow me to argue in their behalf.

1.         Most of the Senior Citizens have gone through a lot of struggles in life.  For those born before the Second World War (1939-1945), they have witnessed and experienced the horrors of war: soldiers and civilians alike were killed or wounded, properties were destroyed, women were raped, children were separated from the parents, communities suffered and the development of the country was disrupted.  I cannot imagine the hardship and agony that they and their parents endured during that time.

2.          For those who survived, they were part of the population, including those born after the war, that helped rebuild this country.  They contibuted to the reconstruction efforts to put the economy back on track. Our senior citizens are our real life heroes,  60 years old and above by now, born before 1960.  During those challenging times, they tried to outlive each day armed with hope, faith and prayer that tomorrow will be better than yesterday.This was followed by the declaration of martial law-- a period in our history characterized by economic setback and missed opportunities, where the right to life, liberty and property and freedom of speech were more honored in breach than observance.

3.         It is not the first time for our senior citizens to experience an atmosphere of lockdown or ECQ.  They had their fair share of curfew and occasional ration of gasoline and food during martial law. They do not have the gadgets and technology though that can lighten up their mood once the sirens started.  They were obliged to sleep early unlike now that there is internet to keep one entertained  thru youtube, netflix or facebook while on quarantine, especially the millennials and Tik Tok fans.

 4.         Now they are 60 years old and above, I submit with due respect, that it is rather unfair to our senior citizens who became successful in life to be excluded from the grant of subsidy after paying their taxes religiously. It will be an injustice to them not be counted because their children became teachers, doctors, lawyers, nurses, engineers, seafarers, IT experts, ofws and successful professionals due to their tenacity and perseverance.  It will be inequitable not to inclue them because they are receiving pension from SSS or GSIS. They earned it out of their own contribution to those pension funds.

 5.         Something does not add up.  We know that during normal times, there are the usual beneficiaries whose welfare are being addressed by the government like the 4Ps, PWDs and other vulnerable sectors and some qualified senior citizens. While we have been hearing complaints on why one is on the list and others are not, laws and regulations are to be followed based on differentiation. As what saying goes "those who have less in life should have more in law".

6.         But today is no ordinary day. We are all living in precarious times. Whether you are young or old, rich or poor, able or disable, the corona virus is deadly and no one is immune.  It knows no religion, age, gender, race, color, social standing or geographical location. Everyone is exposed to the same level of threat and stress while on quarantine.  I humbly suggest that the basis for differentiation be relaxed and subsidy be given to all the senior ctizens consistent with the principles of equal protection and equal treatment. We cannot discriminate those who made it in life by penalizing them for their hard work and sacrifice while rewarding those who did not work as hard by giving them subsidy.

 7.         Most of the seniors, if not all, have illnesses that need maintenance medicine for high blood pressure, kidney failure, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, cataract, and the like because when they were younger, they worked hard and they toiled, they gave their sweat, blood and tears to ensure a better future for their children and our country. Now, that they are older, tired and weary, now that they have medical conditions and more prone to contracting the virus because they are not healthy, what would they feel if they will be abandoned and excluded from the grant of this one off government subsidy?

8.         I believe that the other sectors in the list, say for example the OFWS without work now, the drivers, the maids and the daily paid workers who lost their income, and even the middle class and those who are not in the list of qualified beneficiaries will not complain if they will learn that their parents or relatives, senior citizens at that, will receive the much needed support.  They will thank the government.  They will be happy.

 9.         At the end of the day, more than the subsidy that they will receive, what will count the most is the commitment and gesture that the primacy of the welfare and dignity of the Senior Citizens is a priority. The emotional and psychological value and comfort that this can create is unimaginable. It can uplift one’s spirit and  caress the human soul. I appeal to our government to give them their entitlement.  And I believe that it is up to those senior citizens who have more in life to waive the subsidy and pay it forward to those who need it most.

10.     Lastly, I see no other opportune time for us to show that our Republic is a grateful nation.  Let the subsidy be our token of pride and gratitude for their great sacrifices.  Let us honor our senior citizens while we still can. While they are still alive and having lived long enough to endure the war, the martial law and this covid19, lets us show our simple gesture of giving them what they deserved. It is about time for the country to say SALAMAT PO to all our senior citizens. History will remember us for this. And I believe that every decent Filipino will affirm this preeminent expression of respect.

There are 7.5 million senior citizens based on the 2015 census by the Philippine Statistics Office. Assuming this is the basis of computation, if every senior citizen will be given P5,000 pesos each, this will amount to only P37.5 billion, representing 18.75% out of the P200 billion budget for the social amelioration package.

I am not oblivious though of the funding constraint and any amount that the government will decide to give to all senior citizens will be most welcomed.

We are all together in this war and no one should be left behind.  Please kindly share this to move this appeal forward.

Gos bless us all!

Respectfully,

Atty. Nick Conti
Serving with Honor