By Roselle Aquino
SAN PEDRO CITY, Laguna – A new measure aimed at protecting senior citizens from abuse, neglect, and exploitation has been filed in the House of Representatives, inspired by the harrowing experience of a once prominent Pampanga businesswoman who fell victim to elder abuse.
Laguna 1st District Representative Ann Matibag formally filed the bill in the 20th Congress, seeking to address what she called a “growing and urgent” problem affecting thousands of Filipino elders.
The proposed legislation intends to standardize legal remedies, strengthen prevention and reporting mechanisms, and institutionalize support services for the elderly. At present, elder abuse cases are prosecuted under general statutes like the Revised Penal Code, or, in some instances involving elder women, under the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act (RA 9262).
But these, Matibag said, fall short of addressing the unique vulnerabilities faced by aging Filipinos. “Today, elder abuse cases are squeezed into existing laws –often filed under the Revised Penal Code, or sometimes under RA 9262.But these laws, while important, do not account for the unique vulnerabilities of the elderly.”
Matibag cited the case of Cita N. Rodriguez, an 89-year-old accountant and philanthropist from Pampanga, whose story recently went viral online and in news reports. According to multiple accounts, Rodriguez’s own niece allegedly took advantage of the senior’s declining mental faculties to siphon her finances and misappropriate her properties – before being isolated and made to live on a pauper’s allowance.
“Tita Cita’s case was not an isolated one,” Matibag warned. “It is part of a larger, more disturbing pattern of elder abuse, one that our current legal system is ill-equipped to confront.” She said the absence of dedicated protocols has led to “doctrinal gaps, inconsistent prosecution, and insufficient prevention and support services.”
The bill is anchored on the 1987 Constitution’s provisions recognizing the dignity of every human person, guaranteeing full respect for human rights, and mandating special protection for vulnerable sectors, including the elderly. It also affirms the State’s role in supplementing the family’s duty to care for its aging members, particularly when those very families become the source of harm.
Matibag appealed for bipartisan support in fast tracking the measure, as well as the backing of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), senior citizen federations, and various elder rights advocates. “But I also ask each one of you here to stand with me. Let this bill not just be my measure, but our collective commitment.”
Matibag urges her fellow lawmakers to move beyond cultural gestures of respect and translate reverence into real protection, saying “let us show the nation that our love for our elders does not end with mano po. . . Let us give them not just the honor they are due, but the protection they so deeply deserve.”
The bill is expected to be referred to the appropriate House committee in the coming weeks.
