SENIOR citizens in Quezon City will formally seek from the local government their share of the annual 1-percent internal-revenue allotment (IRA) as soon as city officials become ready for a discussion.
The seniors will use their part of the city IRA to purchase their own transport vehicle, as well as medical goods, Elpidio A. Suniega, Office of the Senior Citizen Affairs (Osca) technical consultant, noted in a recent interview.
“We observed seniors in Quezon City are left behind by their counterparts in other cities in Metro Manila in terms of services,” Suniega said.
Quezon City seniors based their observation on the preparedness and logistics of seniors from other cities who attended a seminar on active aging sponsored by Unilab in Mandaluyong last November 18, he said.
Their counterparts in other cities showcased products in that event, while Quezon City seniors were not aware of the product exhibit component of the seminar, Suniega added.
Seniors from other cities were transported to and from the seminar in comfortable vehicles while the Quezon City contingent took public-utility transport to the venue, he said.
Their service vehicles are very nice, Suniega said. All those things would not be possible if they are not supported by their local governments.
Suniega said senior citizens in the city’s six congressional districts, especially the poor, need free pneumonia and flu vaccines.
Rosita A. Lacson, Southeast District 2 senior citizens president, said free flu vaccines should be received by seniors yearly, and pneumonia vaccine every five years.
“It has to be consistent to be effective,” she said.
“We do not blame the Mayor’s office since its budget is for the same office only,” Suniega said.
Mayor Herbert Bautista, however, complained of disunity among seniors in Quezon City, Suniega said.
Lacson denied it, saying they are generally organized, except for a small number.
In an interview last year, Rene Altuna, Osca Quezon City legal officer, admitted conflict of interests between two factions of seniors in Barangay Tatalon.
Barangay officials failed to encourage both parties to come to terms, he said.
Osca-Quezon City saw the root cause of the misunderstanding to be a political one, Altuna said.
The Quezon City seniors should demonstrate unity, through which their shared aspirations may be heard and achieved, Suniega said.
Although seniors are receiving 1 percent of the barangay IRA, they are yet to receive the 1-percent city IRA, Lacson said.
They will purchase their own bus and get medical goods and services once they start receiving the 1-percent city IRA, she said.
Lacson said much of the IRA will go to senior citizens since they greatly outnumber persons with disabilities in the city.Â
Quezon City received an IRA amounting to P2.8 billion, the largest among Metro Manila cities, for 2013, the Pinoy Governance web site shows.
Under Republic Act 9994, otherwise known as The Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, seniors are entitled to a part of the 1 percent of the local government IRA.
Image credits: Oliver Samson