The Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (Osca) in Quezon City will look this month into the issue that split the association of senior citizens in one of its barangays, a senior official of Osca said in a recent interview.
Osca should now intervene in the discord among seniors in Barangay Tatalon, following unsuccessful attempts by barangay officials to piece their association together, after its division into two factions, Osca-Quezon City legal Officer Rene Altuna said.
In October Osca received a letter from a member of the Tatalon barangay council, asking the office to mediate between the two groups, whose gap continues to widen over internal issues, he said.
The issues are not clear yet to Osca, Altuna said. But Osca sees an angle of politics behind the rift among registered seniors in Tatalon, whose current total is over 100.
A certain senior citizen allegedly split up the association of senior citizens in the barangay in the last months, he said.
The group of senior citizens duly recognized by Osca is led by Erlinda Bañega, a former barangay captain of Tatalon, Altuna said.
He noted that the senior, who broke away with other members, did not ask authority from Osca, or at least notify the office, of his purpose prior to organizing another group.
Osca recognizes only one group of senior citizens in every barangay, Altuna said.
While the office recognizes the right of a person or group to organization, it could not allow two groups of senior citizens to co-exist in one barangay, he said.
The same policy applies to Tatalon, he said. Osca is not in favor of the breakaway and will try its best to reconsolidate the seniors.
Altuna said a directive from Mayor Herbert Bautista charges Osca to strengthen barangay senior citizens associations in the city.
Osca could not tolerate its senior citizens from fighting among themselves, while Bautista is keen on unifying them, Altuna said, adding that one could not simply form an organization of senior citizens or impose his personal will without the consent of the office, he said.
If a member, or an officer of a barangay senior citizens’ association has issue over the leadership of the group, he can escalate it to Osca, Altuna said.
The office will ask Bañega and other key persons in January to a meeting to try to look into the issue and resolve it as soon as possible, Altuna said.