Teoderico Dalaguit walks through three barangays in Mandaue City to beg for food from residents. He refuses to be taken care of by relatives. (CDN Photo/Melissa Cabahug)
As other countries around the world honor their elderly by celebrating National Grandparents Day today, Sept. 7, here in Cebu not a few grandparents are left to fend for themselves.
Teoderico Dalaguit, an 82-year-old native of barangay Kawayan, Leyte lives in an open space below his nephew’s home in barangay Tabok, Mandue City.
Dalaguit said he decided he was happier living on his own.
He sleeps a few hours a day. Neighbors often see him sitting on the streets of barangay Tabok, wearing his favorite cap, blue polo, brown slacks and black rubber shoes.
Arlene Coyoca, a neighbor, said she notices Dalaguit asking for freshly baked bread and coffee from a nearby bakery in the morning.
Dalaguit also visits fellow senior citizens to ask for food.
Nanay Carmen, one of his friends, said Dalaguit asks for food from her store because his nephew spends his pension without telling him.
Long distance
Dalaguit worked as a machine operator in a private company in Mandaue City.
His granddaughter in law, 24-year-old Amyjean, said Dalaguit doesn’t want to be taken care of.
“Masuko man na siya og pailison, mao nang pasagdan na lang namo (He would get angry so we just let him),” Amyjean said.
Born on Sept. 2, 1934, Dalaguit admitted to finding it hard to walk long distances everyday to ask for food.
But he said he does it anyway because he doesn’t want to go hungry.
Barefoot
Elsewhere in Mandaue City, another grandfather, Jun Sandal, lives by himself near a river.
Sandal, a native of sitio San Miguel, barangay Tabok, said he goes out barefoot everyday to visit houses to ask for food.
He said he doesn’t know how old he is.
He said he didn’t marry because he didn’t like girls. “Bayot man ko (I’m gay),” Sandal said.
However, Sandal has grandchildren from his sibling’s children. His elder sibling lives nearby.
“Masuko man siya og moadto ko (My sibling gets mad whenever I go to their house),” Sandal said.
Sandal used to work in a rattan factory but left it to quarry sand near the river where he lived.
When his health declined, he was forced to beg for food from residents of barangays Tabor to Maguikay.
Residents of barangay Tabok nickname Sandal “Jun Bahaw” because he would ask for their leftover rice.
Mandaue City gives financial assistance to senior citizens although the amount is not as much as the P10,000 annual amount enjoyed by counterparts in Cebu City.
The Mandaue city government recently increased the subsidy from P2,000 to P3,000 a year.
The first P1,500 tranche was given last July and the second will be distributed in December this year.
Nearly 15,000 senior citizens are registered in Mandaue City Hall’s Office of Senior Citizens Affairs.
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