Solons call for passage of bills vs. elder abuse

Lawmakers from the House of Representatives on Tuesday called for the passage of the bills seeking to protect senior citizens from violence and abuse.

Ako Bicol party-list Representative Alfredo Garbin Jr., author of House Bill 1504, one of the measures against elder abuse, said the bills are timely as senior citizens are mostly stuck inside their homes during the COVID-19 crisis.

"Napapanahon ang bill na ito dahil sa COVID-19 pandemic at community quarantine," he said.

"Restricted to their homes, the elderly are more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation in various forms," he added.

The House Special Committee on Senior Citizens has begun tackling the measures protecting senior citizens from violence, defining elder abuse, and imposing penalties for these acts.

In House Bill 1504, for instance, financial and material exploitation of the elderly is among the prohibited acts, Garbin said.

The measure likewise considers elder abuse a "public crime" that can be prosecuted upon filing of a complaint by other persons who have personal knowledge on the abuse.

At the same time, the bill mandates the establishment of a senior citizen help desk in every barangay to provide immediate assistance to victims of elder abuse.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development as well as the local government units are also tasked to provide temporary shelter, counseling, psycho-social services and/or recovery, rehabilitation programs and financial aid to victims of elder abuse.

"Sa bill na ito mas madali na ang pagsaklolo sa mga inabusong seniors," Garbin said.

For Tarlac Representative Victor Yap, author of House Bill 65, the passage of the bills is most significant than ever "because it addresses the lack of options for the elderly to address their grievances, especially in a time of a public health crisis such as the present."

"This bill will not only provide immediate assistance for the victim-survivors of abuse but will ultimately prevent this kind of violence to be further perpetrated," he added.

In stressing the need for the passage of the bill, Yap emphasized that senior citizens are as much part of the citizenry as the youth because of their contribution to the society.

It is then the responsibility of the government to protect and promote the welfare of the senior citizens especially those who have and continuously suffer from abuse.

Under Yap's bill, acts considered as elder abuse include physical abuse or the infliction of pain or injury resulting in bodily harm, psychological or emotional abuse causing mental distress, material exploitation through improper economic and financial abuse through acts that make the senior citizen financially dependent, and abandonment which endangers the health and welfare of the elderly.

Other lawmakers who introduced measures against elder abuse are Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte, Representatives Sol Aragones, Wes Gatchalian, Elizaldy Co, Eric Yap, Niña Taduran, Jocelyn Tulfo, and Eric Olivarez.

The House panel approved the creation of a technical working group to consolidate these measures. — BM, GMA News