Senate panel tackles bills protecting elderly from abuse
SENATOR Francis Tolentino presided over the Committee on Justice and Human Rights public hearing Tuesday, April 18, 2023 on several measures which seek to protect senior citizens from neglect, exploitation, and other forms of abuse.
The committee discussed Senate Bill (SB) Nos. 816, 639, 582, and 1408 filed by Senators Sherwin Gatchalian, Sonny Angara, Risa Hontiveros, and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., respectively.
Tolentino, noting that “there is no specific offense” concerning elderly abuse, said there is a need to come up with a general policy and law on elderly abuse and how to make this an offense “that would really prevent abuse (and) protect our elderly or senior citizens from being subjected to this abuse.”
He said such abuses or neglect are actually unrecorded or unregistered because Filipinos are “clannish,” and it is “shameful” for Filipinos to speak up that elderly members are subjected to abuse by members of the same family.
“So that’s why we don’t have records in the PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) about elderly abuse. But there are records coming from other countries that would note that in the Asia Pacific region, older persons often felt ashamed of their [experiences of abuse] and neglect experiences and therefore [chose] not to report them. Especially because [the] majority of the perpetrators are family members whom older persons rely [on] for guarantee,” Tolentino said.
During the same hearing, the committee endorsed for plenary deliberation the Filipino citizenship of Canadian vlogger Kyle Douglas “Kulas” Jennermann.
