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PPASC 2006-2010 Part 1

Philippine Plan of Action for

Senior Citizens (PPASC 2006-2010)

INTRODUCTION

In 1999, Presidential Proclamation No. 1048 was issued declaring a nationwide observance in the Philippines of the International Year of Older Persons in line with the Un Declaration of International Year of Older Persons. In response to its observance, the Philippine Plan of Action for Older Persons (PPAOP) 1999-2004 was formulated to address the broad interests of the Filipino older person sector in a five-year period.

The Philippines has recently concluded the implementation of the PPAOP 1999-2004. It addressed the need to institute appropriate policies, strategies, mechanisms and programs/projects to ensure that senior citizen’s rights are upheld.

The PPAOP 1999-2004 provided us with the perspective in developing an Inter-Agency Plan for Older Persons. This Plan promoted the rights and welfare of senior citizens and set priority areas and action points that guide efforts towards attainment of the goal in ensuring the promotion of security and dignity of senior citizens while maintaining their full participation and human rights. The major areas for action are based on the recommendation of the Shanghai Implementation Strategy namely: (a) older persons and development; (b) advancing health and well-being into old age; (c) ensuring enabling and supportive environments; and (d) implementation and follow-up. In each area, key action points are identified for national and regional actions which take into consideration the results of the PPAOP 1999-2004 and national circumstances.

Through the Plan, two Executive Orders namely EO 266 entitled “Approving and Adopting the PPAOP” and EO 105 known as “Group Homes for Disadvantaged, Sick, Homeless and Frail Older Persons” were issued. It also developed programs for older persons (OPs) such as the Neighborhood Support Services for Older Persons (NSSOP), Group Homes for Older Persons, Consumer Welfare Desk for Older Persons, Balik Literacy, Senior Citizens Day Centers, Inter-generational Program, Pensioners Day, Community-Based Health Programs Residential Care Giving Training, Geriatric ward and clinic at UP Philippine General Hospital, and Elderly Filipino Week Celebration.

The country remains committed to vigorously pursue and continue to undertake active measures to deal with the challenges of population ageing and to create a “society for all ages”.

On February 26, 2004, Republic Act No. 9257 otherwise known as “An Act Granting Additional Benefits and Privileges to Senior Citizens, Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 7432, otherwise known as An Act to Maximize the Contribution of Senior Citizens to Nation Building, Grant Benefits and Special Privileges and for other Purposes,” was signed into law. This law benefits all resident senior citizens in the country.

As provided for by the law, the National Coordinating and Monitoring Board (NCMB) was established to monitor the implementation of the law and is tasked to formulate a National Plan of Action for Senior Citizens in coordination with concerned government agencies and other stakeholders. Based on this, the NCMB issued Resolution No. 4, series of 2005 which created the Inter-Agency Committee on PPASC to develop the action plan for senior citizens. The Philippine Plan of Action for Senior Citizens (PPASC) 2006-2010 is a document that spells out the strategies, programs, projects and activities contributing to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) for the promotion of Active Ageing in the Philippines.

The present Plan of Action is anchored on several international, regional and national mandates. It derives support from international mandates on ageing, particularly the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing adopted during the Second World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid, Spain in April 2002, and used as a framework in crafting the Shanghai Implementation Strategy (SIS) on Ageing subsequently formulated during the Asia-Pacific Seminar on Regional Follow-up to the 2^nd World Assembly on Ageing in September 2002 in Shanghai, China.

The formulation of the PPASC 2006-2010 is also principally guided by national policies and legislations recognizing the role of senior citizens and promoting their active participation in development. It will also set out priority areas and action points that guide efforts towards the goal of ensuring that societies and individuals age with security and dignity while maintaining their full participation and human rights.

The PPASC provides measures whereby our senior citizens are assisted and appreciated by the community as a whole, establish program beneficial to the senior citizens, their families and the rest of the community that they serve and establish health and rehabilitation programs in every political unit of society.

The Plan is the product of a series of multi-stakeholders consultations and recommendations from the senior citizens sector. It will therefore serves as the strategic framework of all concerned Government Agencies, Non-Governmental Organization and People’s Organization in developing their plan of action to address the current challenges brought about by the trend of population ageing and its enormous implications, not only to individuals, but also in every aspect of community, national and international life.

The formulation of the Philippine Plan of Action for Senior Citizens (2006-2010) as a successor plan to the PPAOP 1999-2004 takes off and builds on the gains and lessons learned from the previous Plan and from the main recommendation of the PPAOP 1999-2004 evaluation workshop in developing a responsive national strategy on how to prepare the society from the challenges of ageing and ensuring that the goals of active ageing are achieved. Priority shall be given to the needs of the underprivileged and sick or ailing senior citizens and the development of indicators for every major goal for senior citizens in every Region, Provinces, Municipality and Barangay. Anent this, there is also the need to empower LGU’s to translate national goals into a local plan responsive to the needs of senior citizens based on the current situation and applicable policies.

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 08 April 2008 )

PPASC 2006-2010 Part 2

II. THE DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS

The Senior Citizens in the Philippines

It is estimated that the proportion of persons aged 60 years and older in the world will double between 2000 and 2050, from 10 to 21 per cent (i.e. from 600 million to 2 billion in absolute number). In 2025, it is projected that 15 per cent of the world population will be aged 60 and over. Among the world's population aged 60 years and above, 52 per cent live in Asia and the Pacific in 2002, and this is projected to increase to 59 percent in 2025. Asia and the Pacific is the most rapidly ageing region of the world. As the region urbanizes, the availability of traditional family support is likely to be reduced.

In the Philippines, the elderly population has been steadily increasing in both size and proportion. The 2000 Census of Population and Housing (CPH) enumerated about 4.6 million persons aged 60 years and over (2.1 million males and 2.5 million females). This number represents 6 percent of 76.5 million total populations in 2000. The 2000 figure is about 900 thousand larger than the 1995 census figure of 3.7 million and 1.4 million larger than the 1990 figure (3.2 million). The 1995 proportion is slightly lower, at 5.4 percent. In 1960, only 4.3 percent of the 27.1 million Filipinos were in the ages 60 years and over. While in 1970 figure, the elderly comprised 4.5 percent (1.6 million) of the total population.

Table A. Population Distribution of Senior Citizens by Region: Philippines, 2000

Region	Total Population	Number of Senior Citizens	Percent to Total Senior Citizens	Percent to Regional Population
PHILIPPINES	76,504,077	4,565,560	100.00	5.97
REGION I - Ilocos Region	4,200,478	337,797	7.40	8.04
REGION II - Cagayan Valley	2,813,159	179,655	3.94	6.39
REGION III - Central Luzon	8,030,945	482,333	10.56	6.01
REGION IV - Southern Tagalog	11,793,655	648,495	14.20	5.50
REGION V - Bicol Region	4,686,669	313,531	6.87	6.69
REGION VI - Western VIsayas	6,211,038	473,752	10.38	7.63
REGION VII - Central Visayas	5,706,953	409,791	8.98	7.18
REGION VIII - Eastern Visayas	3,610,355	270,447	5.92	7.49
REGION IX - Western Mindanao	3,091,208	157,324	3.45	5.09
REGION X - Northern Mindanao	2,747,585	155,273	3.40	5.65
REGION XI - Southern Mindanao	5,189,335	259,533	5.68	5.00
REGION XII - Central Mindanao	2,598,210	120,425	2.64	4.63
NCR (National Capital Region)	9,932,560	468,876	10.27	4.72
CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region)	1,365,412	86,741	1.90	6.35
ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao)	2,412,159	76,590	1.68	3.18
Caraga	2,095,367	124,283	2.72	5.93

Source: NSO, 2000 Census of Population & Housing

Of the 4.6 million senior citizens, about 54.11 percent (2.5 million) were females while the rest were males. This translated to a sex ratio of 84.8 or 85 males for every 100 female senior citizens, which was lower than the 1990 and 1995 sex ratios (88.43 and 87.63 percents, respectively).

Last Updated ( Friday, 05 October 2007 )

PPASC 2006-2010 Part 3

Source: NSO, 2000 Census of Population & Housing

As expected, the percentage distribution of senior citizens tails off as age increases. About 35.77 percent of the said populations were 60 to 64 years old and 24.94 percent were 65 to 69 years old. Female senior citizens outnumbered males in all age groups with the biggest gap in the 80 years and over age group.

Senior citizens had a median age of 68 years in the 2000 CPH, same as that of 1990 and 1995. This means that half of the senior citizens population were below 68 years old.

Source: NSO, 2000 Census of Population & Housing

Among the regions, the median age of senior citizens in Ilocos Region (Region I) was the highest at 69.15 years. All other regions that surpassed the national median age of 67.85 years were Regions II (67.97), III (68.05), V (68.06), VI (68.20), VII (68.24), VIII (68.06), and CAR (68.02).

As of 2005, the projected Philippine population of persons aged 60 years old and above totaled to 5,385,607. It comprises 6.3% of the whole projected population (85,236,913) of the country based on the medium assumption of the National Statistics Office (NSO). The breakdown of Senior Citizens statistics based on categorization are as follows:

Young Old (60-69) 3,251,386

Old Old (70-79) 1,577,383

Oldest Old (80 & above) 556,838

However, the number is growing at a faster rate than in many other countries and is expected to increase to 10.5 percent of the total population, or exceed 11.1 million by 2025. In like manner, the projected average life expectancy for Filipinos is 72.75 years. The average rate for male is 70.00 years old & 75.50 years old for female. This may be caused by changing lifestyles and advances in medicine and medical technology.

The age structure of Philippine population (Figure 3) was a typical broad base at the bottom consisting of large numbers of children and a narrow top made up of relatively small number of elderly. Young dependents belonging to age group 0 to 14 years comprised 37.01 percent. The old dependents (65 years and over) accounted for 3.83 percent, while 59.16 percent comprised the economically active population (15 to 64 years).

[1] UNESCAP statistics on older persons in the world

[2] UN Programme on Ageing

[3] National Statistics Office (NSO) Projected Population by Five-Year Age Group, Sex and Five-Year Interval.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 October 2007 )

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