Of late, there is so much talk about sectoral concerns. Probably because our own Constitution identifies them explicitly for political representation in Congress because they have been recognized as “ marginalized”, or maybe because our national human rights framework was geared towards protecting these identified sectors as a “priority” for years, especially if they already have their own United Nations Convention.
The elderly community is one such sector, and although they are sometimes lumped together with Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), they have certainly come a long way compared to others. Like women and children, there was specific mention about them in the Philippine Constitution – something about recognizing their contributions to society, etc.etc. As such, senior citizens also have several legislations to their name that provide them specific benefits and privileges. But unlike women and children, said laws bestow unto them certain “advantages”, more than “preferential treatment” rather than “protectionist”. Maybe that is why the original Magna Carta of Senior Citizens was more about discounts on purchases, than addressing neglect or abuse committed against them.
But what makes the senior citizens sector “special” is how they manage to get things done and to achieve things that run in their favour. Note that while women have the Philippine Commission on Women (formerly known as the NCRFW or National Commission on the Role of the Filipino Women), children have the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) and the youth, the National Youth Commission (NYC), the PWDs have the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) or what was formerly known as NCWDP. Senior citizens do not have any agency, council or commission. All they have is an inter-agency National Coordinating and Monitoring Board (NCMB) chaired by the DSWD and focused on monitoring the implementation of the senior citizens act.
Note also that older persons do not have their own treaty or UN Convention unlike other sectors. Children have the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) while women have the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). PWDs have the UNCRPD or the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, while migrant workers have the UN Convention of the Migrant Workers Rights. The only international instruments “of stature” that seniors can use are the Macau Plan of Action, the Madrid Programme of Action, and the Shanghai Implementation Strategy, plus a few proceedings of World Assemblies on Ageing.
But since the early 1990s, senior citizens have managed to organize themselves nationwide. With initial help from DSWD, the Federation of Senior Citizens Associations of the Philippines (FSCAP) was established with a national membership and representation from all the regions. From the most basic political unit in the barangay, to municipalities or cities, to the provincial level, up to the regional federation president, they were able to build up their ranks from the grassroots up to the national level. It was this very same mechanism that got them organized enough to apply for partylist accreditation and achieve that 10% of electoral votes enough for sectoral representation in Congress. For the PWD sector and the LGBT Community seeking to run under the partylist system, there is a clear lesson to be learned here. Get organized as a true sector and not just as a hodge-podge community of “marginalized” individuals; and make sure you are able to reach all regions and provinces to harness that nationwide membership, come campaign period and most importantly, election day.
We must get our act together first, get unified and work to achieve a common goal. Senior citizens have repeatedly shown their highly effective legislative advocacy and lobbying work. In a span of almost two decades, they have managed a third amendment to their senior citizens act and which now provides for even more additional benefits and privileges. Meanwhile, the Anti-Discrimination bill that seeks to protect Filipino LGBTs has languished in the halls of legislature for the past three Congresses or over nine years!
With all these things working out positively for senior citizens, I guess they do know something we don’t…because they seem to be doing everything right.
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