Senior Citizens during COVID-19 Crisis in the Philippines: Enabling Laws, Current Issues, and Shared Efforts

Abstract

While the COVID-19 crisis has affected people of all walks, there is an unheard side of the vulnerable aged group across the globe. This article discusses the condition of senior citizens in the Philippines during the COVID-19 crisis. The review showed that various enabling laws through the constitution, republic acts, and executive orders, have been enacted to secure the welfare of senior citizens. However, the current crisis has revealed ageism issues such as deprivation of income sources, inaccessibility to essential needs, inadequate physical space, and spoken negative perceptions. Shared efforts have been focused to improve social pension payout, guidelines for mobility, different approaches of remote access to goods and services, and meaningful internet connectivity within the context of the senior citizens. This paper suggests the need to translate the laws into effective programs, discuss related ageism issues with sensitivity, and consider evidence of successful international efforts to further improve the condition of the senior citizens in the country.

Keywords: senior citizens, social policy, COVID-19, Philippines