By Dhel Nazario
Around 100 senior citizens of Pasay City were hired as temporary airport ushers through an agreement between the local government, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), Ang Probinsyano Partylist, and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
Pasay City Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Ang Probinsyano Partylist Rep. Ronnie Ong and Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Eddie Monreal (Pasay PIO / Teddy Ofaga / Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN)
The hired seniors will perform manageable tasks such as guiding airport patrons to their seats and to offices they need to go to or which lanes to queue in.
They will work for three hours in the morning and another three hours in the afternoon for 15 days, and will each receive a salary based on a P537 daily wage rate.
A memorandum was signed on Tuesday by Pasay City Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Ang Probinsyano Partylist Rep. Ronnie Ong, and MIAA General Manager Eddie Monreal in ceremonies held at the MIAA office. The mayor was accompanied by Pasay’s Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) president Normita Castillo.
Aged 60 to early 70s, the senior citizens were selected based on their health condition and fitness to work.
"Through this project, we are giving our senior citizens the opportunity to still maximize their productivity, mingle again with people in a regular work environment, and even provide some amount to their families with their salaries," Mayor Calixto-Rubiano said.
“It is also a fitting recognition and appreciation of senior citizens as productive members of society even in their 60s, 70s or older,” she added.
In her previous stint as Pasay city’s lone congresswoman, Mayor Calixto-Rubiano principally authored the measure which became Republic Act 10911, the “Anti-age Discrimination In Employment Act” which thus paved way for the employment of senior citizens throughout the country.