A helping hand

Fr. Rowell Gumalay of the Missionaries of the Poor spends time with the elderly residents at the “House of the Lord” in Talisay City. The old age home has been providing care, accommodation, and all basic necessities to 43 people in old age, some of whom are neglected by their families. (CDN PHOTO/ TONEE DESPOJO)

(SECOND AND LAST PART)

Efforts to give abandoned seniors a dignified life remain sporadic.

In Central Visayas, there are at least nine old age homes—all of which are run by religious institutions and private entities.

The government, which is tasked by law to prioritize the elderly and promote the well-being of the abandoned, has none in the region.

“The government should have one (home for the aged) here soon,” says Arteria Degamo, lead coordinator of the Department of Social Welfare and Services’ (DSWD 7) programs for the elderly.

In the Philippines, the government manages four residential care services for older persons neglected by their families. These are located in Quezon City, Rizal, Davao City and Zamboanga City.

Cebu, one of the most highly populated areas in the country, does not have a government-run old age home.

At present, cases of abandoned elders brought before DSWD 7 are endorsed to private foster homes in Cebu.

But the government is not blind to the needs of the elderly, Degamo says.

Indigent seniors 60 years old and above, she says, are given a monthly stipend of P500 as part of the Social Pension in compliance with Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.

Qualified to receive the monthly pension are senior citizens who are sickly or have disabilities; those who are not receiving pension from Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), or Veterans Pension; and do not have a permanent source of income or regular support from relatives.

This year, DSWD is seeking a budget allocation of P7.5 billion for the Social Pension Program to accommodate more indigent and abandoned elderly.
Degamo says neglect for older members of the family isn’t suppose to happen in the Philippines—a country where respect for elders is valued.

MORE LAWS NEEDED

Lawyer Earl Bonachita, former president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cebu City chapter, says the Senior Citizens Act mentions as state policy the need to prioritize the elderly, but it does not have a penalty if they are abandoned by their children.

“Unfortunately, there are very few laws protecting the elderly. I believe there’s a need for legislation to push for the protection of the elderly from being neglected or abandoned,” he tells Cebu Daily News.

In Feb. 2015, a lawmaker from Cavite pushed for the immediate passage of a bill that will penalize children who abandon their elderly parents.
House Bill 5336 or the Parents Welfare Act of 2014 requires children to provide their old and sickly parents support for sustenance, clothing, residence, medical attendance and other amenities that would enable them to lead a normal life.

The bill proposes the penalty of imprisonment of one month to six months or a fine of not more than P100,000 if the respondent continues to fail to give support for three consecutive months without justifiable cause.

But the bill has not been enacted into law.

STRENGTHENING FAMILY TIES

Retired Regional Trial Court Judge Simeon Dumdum Jr. emphasizes the need to strengthen family ties and to instill in young people the value of taking care of the elderly.

“The youth must remember that they too will become old. If you care for the elderly, and when your time to get old comes, the young will also take care of you for they have seen how you’ve nurtured old people,” he says.

Now at life’s final stage, he says old people should be valued and given due respect in families and societies.

“When old people are younger and healthier, they are the backbone of the economic, social, and religious life of the country. And now that they have reached their time to rest, they deserve to be given the comfort and convenience they need,” the 68-year-old Dumdum says.

“Old people are assets. They are sources of guidance and wisdom for the young. In life, there are things which can only be learned through time. And the elderly are great teachers because they have been through life,” he adds.

Putting the elderly in an old age home, Dumdum says, is certainly inappropriate, noting that the place doesn’t provide an environment of affection which can only be found in a family.

‘HIDDEN EUTHANASIA’

Last April 2, on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis appealed to Catholic dioceses around the world to establish a home for the aged, among other facilities, as a “monument” of the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy.

The Holy Father, in a message, denounced the neglect and abandonment of the elderly, calling it as “hidden euthanasia” (the painless killing of someone suffering from an incurable and painful disease).

“Violence against the elderly is as inhuman as that against children. How many times are old people just discarded. This is the result of a throw-away culture that is hurting our world so much,” said the 79-year-old Pontiff.

“People who do not take care of grandparents and do not treat them well have no future. Such people lose their memory and their roots,” he added.

In 1987, then Archbishop of Cebu Ricardo Cardinal Vidal established Gasa sa Gugma, a foster home for the abandoned elderly in the city and province.

Now, the nursing home run by the Missionaries of Charity serves about 60 dejected and sick elders.

“The elderly at Gasa used to stay on the sidewalks. They looked very ugly. That’s why I thought of a place where they can be taken care of,” the 85-year-old cardinal tells CDN.

Before he retired as Archbishop of Cebu in 2011, Vidal also set up the St. John Paul II Home for Elderly Priests which now caters to the needs of old and sick priests of the archdiocese.

“One disadvantage of getting old is when no one takes care of you. And so let us think of (and care for) those who are no longer capable of doing things (because of their age),” he says.

INEVITABLE

Dr. Amparo Florida, a gerontologist and president of the Golden Center of Cebu, Inc. (GCCI), an organization of senior citizens and retirees, says growing old is part of life that every person should prepare for.

“Aging is a normal process from birth to death. It is universal, inevitable, and irreversible. It is actually a complicated process, but we should not be afraid of it,” she says.

GCCI has been conducting trainings for elderly care to teach young members of the family on the proper ways of nurturing the elderly.
“Taking care of the elderly is very tedious. It’s not easy. It consumes much of your time. But someone has to care for them. We couldn’t just leave people in old age to die,” Florida says.

Some families, she says, secure the services of caregivers whose monthly salaries range from P8,000 to P20,000. The rest has the option to stay at home or take shelter at old age homes.

She admits that elderly care in the country needs to be enhanced, and that there should be more old age homes to cater the needs of older people.

Florida intends to transform the Golden Center of Cebu from a day care center for the elderly into a retirement home for seniors with no children, singles, or those whose relatives are abroad.

In a retirement home, she says an elderly can go in and out of the facility, interact with other seniors, and experience an environment of affection.

“The elderly needs to socialize with others. They can play games, enjoy music, and engage in different activities like gardening just to keep them busy.

They should have something to look forward to. Otherwise, they will experience depression,” Florida says.

HOPEFUL

For 67-year-old Mario,* it is the old age home of the Missionaries of the Poor (MOP) in Talisay City that egged him to carry on living.

“Maayo dinhi kay libre tanan: pagkaon, tambal, doctor, nurse, ug accommodation. Hasta lungon og lubong, libre (Here, everything is free: food, medicine, doctor, nurse, and accommodation. Even the coffin and burial are for free),” he said.

The former heavy equipment operator could hardly stand up and walk after he dislocated his spine when he fell down the stairs of a house he rented in 2003.

Since no one could take care of him, he was brought by nuns to the MOP in 2010.

On his sixth year at the old age home, Mario understands that his sufferings are just temporary, and that soon they will end.
Despite the obstacles, he knows he’s never alone.

“Tiguwang na ko. Hapit na mosawop. Ang Ginoo mao ang akong bugtong dalangpanan (I’m old. I’m now at the sunset of my life. And God is my only refuge),” Mario says.

Fr. Rowell Gumalay, head of MOP’s House of the Lord, urges people to care for the elderly, spend quality time with them, and make them feel loved.

“This is the time to make people aware that the elderly are precious no matter what their conditions are. Inasmuch as they need us, it’s actually the other way around,” he says.

“We need them because we become more human and more Christian when we are able to reach out, care, and love especially those who are abandoned, rejected, and who are considered as nobody. At the end of our lives, each of us will be judged according to what we have done to the least of our brethren, including our abandoned elders,” the priest adds.

*The real name of the elderly is not used in this article to protect his privacy. The interview was conducted with the consent of the elderly and the Missionaries of the Poor.