To eliminate the hesitancy of the elderly in getting vaccinated, Senior Citizens Partylist Representative Ompong Ordanes called on the Department of Health (DOH) to explain what best COVID-19 vaccine should be given them.
“Ang dapat na maipaliwanag ng [DOH] ay kung alin ba ang pinakamagandang bakuna sa aming mga senior citizens. Sila po ang nakakaalam nyan e,” Ordanes said during the “Uganayan sa Batasan” media forum.
the legislator said he is willing to be inoculated to help build confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines among senior citizens.
“Majority of the estimated 9.8 million seniors are willing to be vaccinated.”
“Willing po ako magpa-vaccine para maipakita sa ating mga seniors ‘yung tiwala. Kasi hindi naman ibibigay ng mga doctor ‘yan kung hindi effective,” the legislator said.
According to him, majority of the estimated 9.8 million seniors are willing to be vaccinated so they can finally go out without worrying about contracting the virus.
“Siguro majority ng seniors ay gustong mabakunahan para ‘ika nga e makalabas na, mawala ‘yung takot dito sa pandemyang ‘to,” Ordanes said.
“Ang pinapayo ko nga, kung magpapabakuna tayong mga seniors, kumunsulta muna tayo sa mga doktor kung pwede ba tayong bakunahan,” he added.
Ordanes also outlined other proposed legislative programs for the elderly sector.
“Among them,” he said, “are the proposed universal pension law, free vaccination for all senior citizens, and free hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and other DOH-approved dialysis procedures for seniors.”
At the same time, Ordanes urged the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to speed up the release of the social pension of the indigent senior citizens.
He said numerous complaints regarding the social pension were aired during the dialogue conducted by the House Special Committee on Senior Citizens, which he heads, with the different Offices of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) nationwide.
“Doon namin nalaman na napakarami palang problema nitong pagbibigay ng social pension. Maraming problema sa DSWD na hindi natutugunan,” Ordanes said.
“Kaya minamadali namin na maisabatas ‘yung ating Universal Pension Act, na kung saan lahat ng senior citizens, whether rich or poor, pensioners or not, ay magkakaroon ng P1,000 na monthly pension,” he stressed.
Ordanes also said his party-list group is also pushing for a law that would give senior citizens free vaccination and dialysis treatment.
“Kasi ang libre lang sa PhilHealth is 90 sessions. Ang required sa isang taon ay 144 sessions,” Ordanes pointed out.
“My committee will look into complaints that senior citizens could not avail of the mandated 20% discount when purchasing online orders.”
Meanwhile, he said his committee will look into complaints that senior citizens could not avail of the mandated 20 percent discount when purchasing online orders, especially on food deliveries.
“Magkakaroon tayo ng imbestigasyon kasi nga hindi nabibigyan ng discount ‘yung ating mga senior citizens sa mga online delivery na ito,” Ordanes said.
“Ang aming rekomendasyon, ‘pag umorder kailangang ibigay ‘yung detalye ng senior citizen, then pag-deliver ipresenta sa delivery kung talagang sila ay senior citizen. Pero syempre pag-aaralan natin kung anong sistema ba ang maganda para maiayos itong mga discount na ito sa mga online delivery,” he emphasized.