Implementation of the Privileges of Senior Citizens in One Municipality… ______Age
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Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Arts and Sciences, Vol. 7 No. 3, July 2020 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Asia Pacific Journal of Implementation of the Privileges of Senior Education, Arts and Sciences Citizens in one Municipality in Batangas, Vol. 7 No.3, 66-71 July 2020 Philippines P-ISSN 2362-8022 E-ISSN 2362-8030 Agnes S. Ramirez, Ma. Rosario B. Tamayo, Rolando Tumambing www.apjeas.apjmr.com Master in Public Administration, Lyceum of the Philippines University, ASEAN Citation Index Batangas City, Philippines Date Received: February 10, 2020; Date Revised: July 12, 2020 Abstract –The study aimed to determine the level of Expanded Senior Citizen Act of 2010 might somehow awareness of the respondents of all the privileges under alleviate the challenges encountered by the senior the Expanded Senior Citizen Act of 2010; to identify citizens. other benefits provided to the Senior Citizens of Taysan, Filipino values and traditions say that the family‟s Batangas, Philippines which is not included in the law; elderly have to be taken-cared of at home, be loved, assess the Implementation of Section 4 of the Expanded respected, and valued [3].There is no such clear and Senior Citizen Act in the municipality; identify the universally accepted definition for senior citizens. In problems encountered in the implementation of the most developed countries, it has been accepted the Expanded Senior Citizen Act of 2010. The study chronological age of 65 years as a definition of „elderly‟ employed the descriptive method. Findings revealed or older person. But the United Nations (UN) agreed that majority of the respondents are female, married, cut-off is 60+ years to refer to the older population vocational graduate and unemployed. Senior Citizens in (www.who.int). In the Philippines, Sec,2 of Republic Taysan, Batangas can sometimes avail other benefits Act No.9994 (Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010) not included in Sec4 of RA 9994.Sec 4 of RA 9994 is (a) defines Senior Citizen or elderly refers to any less implemented in the Municipality. The respondents resident citizen of the Philippines at least sixty (60) agree that the implementation of Section 4 of RA 9994 years old. in the Municipality is a problem. There is no significant With people working longer, it‟s increasingly difference in the implementation and problems important that we recognize the importance of encountered when respondents were grouped according supporting senior citizens within our society. When a to profile variables. A proposed plan of action is person retires, he/she becomes isolated from the society, recommended to enhance the implementation of Sec 4 some of them are still keen to work and in fact some of of RA 9994. them are rendering their services for both Government Keywords –Senior Citizen, Batangas, elderly, sector organizations and private sector organizations at Expanded Senior Citizen Act of 2010 different capacities. However, the majority remains not doing any work and tends to depend on their monthly INTRODUCTION pension income alone. As far as national productivity is Senior citizens are beset with a number of problems concerned, this severe waste of knowledge, experience, in terms of health maintenance and services where they time, etc. [4]. are somehow already deprived to avail due to lack of In the Philippines, there exists a law granting a financial support from the family and pension. The most number of benefits to people upon reaching the age of conspicuous problems are those relating to board, 60. Republic Act No. 9994, is a social welfare lodging, shelter and medical facilities. Esteban [1] legislation intended to benefit our Filipino elderly and emphasized that the effects of population aging on provide them additional benefits. Pursuant to RA 9994, individuals, societies and governments are still largely Senior Citizens are entitled to discount privileges, free unknown. Nonetheless, experts, governments and services, exemptions, incentives, government financial global organizations express alarm about the pressures assistance and priority in express lane. that aging exerts on two critical policy areas, namely, Carlos [5] noted that the significant concerns of the the pension systems and health services. Senior citizens elderly have only recently been offered serious often complain that they are not getting the fair considerations. One of the issues is the security in old treatment from the family and society [2]. But with the age. Poverty is perceived as an obstacle to a secured old 66 P-ISSN 2362-8022 | E-ISSN 2362-8030 | www.apjeas.apjmr.com Ramirez et al., Implementation of the Privileges of Senior Citizens in one Municipality… __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ age. Health status is one of the primary concerns among Participants elderly. Carlos also mentioned, as people age, their As of November 2014, the Municipality under study bodies undergo changes which can make them less has a total of 3,054 senior citizens, 1,019 are male and resistant to chronic, debilitating and disabling 2,035 are female. The participants were senior citizens conditions. Consequently, the elderly tend to be more at from the three largest barangays in the Municipality high risk of developing disabilities and contracting under study. From the total population of 639 from diseases. In developed countries like the US, the rate of three largest local villages in the Municipality, 132 growing old population increases due to medical and senior citizens were taken as respondents of the study. public heath improvements, leading to increased life The local villages under study have numerous numbers expectancy. So, providing a special elderly caring of senior citizens as compared with the other local service system seems to be necessary [6]. villages in the municipality. The researcher also Assessment on the implementation of the law is in believed that they have the capacity to answer the order to propose corresponding ordinance to help the questionnaires and assess this study. senior citizens. It is in this context that the researcher Instrument who is a legislator and a senior citizen herself, would The data that the researcher used in this study were like to assess the implementation of Sec. 4 of Republic gathered through the use of descriptive survey. Act 9994 in one Municipality of Batangas, Philippines, Descriptive survey was utilized to assess the to know the compliance of concerned sectors and implementation of the RA 9994 and to determine the proposed measures or possible legislation to enhance its problems encountered in the implementation. Data were implementation. gathered through the use of survey questionnaire which served as the primary instrument in gathering OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY information. Questionnaires were administered to the The study aimed to enhance and strengthen the respondents and were collected at the completion of the implementation of Sec.4 of RA 9994 otherwise known responses. The questionnaire prepared by the researcher as the Expanded Senior Citizen Act of 2010. More was divided into four parts. The first part dealt with the specifically, it determined the profile of the respondents demographic profile of the respondents such as gender, in terms of sex, civil status, educational attainment and civil status, educational attainment and employment employment status; determined the level of awareness status. The second and third part included the questions of the respondents of all the privileges under the intended to gather respondent‟s awareness and Expanded Senior Citizen Act of 2010; identified other implementation of the privileges for senior citizens. benefits provided to the Senior Citizens of one Lastly, the fourth part included the questions answered municipality in Batangas, which is not included in the the problem encountered in the Implementation of law; assessed the Implementation of Section 4 of the Section 4, RA 9994 Expanded Senior Citizen Act of Expanded Senior Citizen Act in the above mentioned 2010 in the Municipality. municipality; identified the problems encountered in the implementation of the Expanded Senior Citizen Act of Procedure 2010; tested the difference in the implementation and To have a full understanding to the topic, the problems encountered when grouped according to researcher utilized the researched-made questionnaire profile variables; and proposed an action plan to patterned from Section 4 of RA9994, journals, different enhance the implementation of RA 9994 otherwise books, clippings, researches and other materials related known as the Expanded Senior Citizen Act of 2010. to the topic with modification to suit the present study. The researcher used the SHL Media Center to gather the METHODS initial data. Through the internet, the researcher was Research Design able to formulate the first draft of the questionnaire. It The study employed the descriptive method to was presented and validated by the OSCA-Head, obtain information about the implementation of the President of the Federation; President of Senior Citizens Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.Descriptive Bel-Air. After it was validated by the OSCA - Head research endeavours to describe systematically, and the president of the federation, the researcher wrote factually, accurately and objectively a situation, a letter of request to the Municipal Mayor and problem