Calling age a "constant barrier" for otherwise very capable senior citizens, Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte is prodding the private sector to broaden job opportunities for elderly Filipinos.

For this purpose, Duterte penned and filed House Bill (HB) No.2384, or the proposed Act providing further opportunities for senior citizens as employees in private entities by granting increased incentives to private entities that employ senior citizens.

The measure seeks to amend certain provisions of Republic Act (RA) No.9994, otherwise known as the Expanded Senior Citizen Act of 2010.

“Age has been a constant barrier to opening employment opportunities for many of our physically and mentally able senior citizens who want to continue working to help augment the meager pension and retirement savings they have,” said Duterte, a former deputy speaker.

“To help remedy this situation, private companies should be encouraged to provide them with jobs. The private sector can benefit from the skills that senior citizens have acquired from their long years of hard work. Also, our senior citizens can continue to contribute to our post-pandemic economic growth,” added the second-term solon.

Benguet lone district Rep. Eric Yap and ACT-CIS Party-list Reps. Edvic Yap and Jeffrey Soriano were Duterte's co-authors for the measure.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Duterte said people aged 60 years old and above made up 8.5 percent of the population (9.22 million individuals) as of 2020. This is higher than the 7.5 percent (7.53 million senior citizens) recorded in 2015.

The Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM), for its part, has projected that 14 percent of the total population will be 60 and older by 2035, and recommended that the government start improving the social protection and well-being of elderly Filipinos.

These include instituting geriatric care programs, raising the age of retirement and expanding employment opportunities for seniors, according to Popcom.

The Expanded Senior Citizens Act currently sets the allowable deduction for firms hiring seniors at 15 percent. Duterte said their proposal aims to make this on par with the tax benefit that private companies receive when they employ persons with disabilities (PWDs), which is a deduction from gross income equivalent to 25 percent of salaries and wages paid.

Private companies are entitled to the tax deduction under HB No.2384, provided that the employed senior is hired for a period of at least six months and that the annual income of the senior citizen should not exceed the latest poverty threshold as determined by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) or the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

The bill’s authors pointed out that “70 percent of Filipino senior citizens still prefer working because most of their pension and retirement savings are insufficient to sustain their family and needs.”

They also cited a Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) report saying that nearly 1.3 million elderly Filipinos are living in poverty.

Duterte said a Popcom study also showed that the number of senior citizens have risen over the years “due to better health and socioeconomic conditions.”

“This means that many of them are still employable and continue to be economically productive citizens that can contribute to nation-building,” he pointed out.