Closer look on Senior Citizens

It’s more fun being a senior citizen in the municipality of Polomolok, South Cotabato, a lot of benefits and astonishing privileges come with being a senior. But despite the benefits, it still has some disadvantages. As a centennial, especially when you’re looking after your parents or grandparents, it may take 30 to 40 years for us to enjoy these rights and benefits. But some people in this generation think that being a senior citizen is somewhat humiliating because they can’t relate to what’s new and ‘hip’ nowadays. Example, if they go out with their grand parents they’d often feel ashamed because they’re with someone who walks slow and flimsy. Millenials and Centennials seem to respect people their age but tend to look down on people especially senior citizens. Sooner or later we’ll get old and wrinkly too, and we’ll be laughed at by kids, now tell me is this the kind of place we want to live in?

Some individuals don’t show respect to the elderly, like for example, when a senior citizen falls in line for a cubicle at the mall, the younger ones enter first without bothering to ask the seniors to take the cubicle instead, without minding how tiring it is to stand, without caring because they think of themselves first. When our parents or grandparents are talking to someone that may seem just at their age, we don’t pay respect or do the ‘mano’ at them because we’re too shy since it’s our first time meeting them or too shy to communicate because we all knew some of the elders are annoying, asking questions about your love life when in fact you don’t really have one and also, we’re used to talk with our friends that we fail to communicate with the elder ones.

For us Filipinos, especially in our culture, it is understood that we must pay respect to elders. To kickoff, let’s take a look at the brighter side and discover the benefits of being a senior citizen. First, as you can see when we go shopping, there’s that thing called the ‘Priority Lane’, wherein you can witness assistance and seats provided for pregnant women, people with disabilities, and senior citizens.

Ideally, there are some VAT Exemptions for senior citizens; medicines, domestic air, sea travel fare and public land transportation fee, hotels, places of leisure, restaurant, funeral and burial services. Thus, VAT exemptions are deducted first from the medical bill before deducting it at the PhilHealth benefit. You just have to give your senior citizen card and get a 20% discount. The discounts don’t stop there. In the market here in the Polomolok, called ‘laray’, our grandparents tend to ask for a discount and as a sign of respect or because they don’t want to be annoyed anymore or they badly wanted to sell their products easily, they’ll give them what the customer had asked. Speaking of vegetables, while we are eating junk foods, sweets and other carbs, they would scold us and they’ll start taking about their lives back then, telling us about how all they ate were vegetables and healthier stuff.

If your parents or grandparents are too weak to buy food and groceries, being an attentive teenager, you can claim the senior citizen discount on their behalf but make sure that they’re the ones who will use the discounted products.

Lastly, you can gain Php 500-6,000 a month social pension from the government every month. Right now, the government is planning to add the amount for our senior citizens’ mileage. Thus, being a senior citizen isn’t something to be ashamed of. In fact, it is a blessing for they have reached that age. Because of that, well just watch.