Almost unnoticed – coming after the sixth strong cyclone in a month had left the country’s area of responsibility, and the House hearings on confidential funds and the previous administration’s drug war –was the approval on third and final reading of House Bill No 10985.
The proposed Employment Opportunities for Senior Citizens and Private Entities’ Incentives Act (HB 10985), which got 173 affirmative votes during the plenary session on Nov. 19, would allow senior citizens to be employed even after reaching retirement age.
This bill, when enacted into law, would bring many benefits not only to senior citizens, but also to the economy.
There are about 9.22 million senior citizens in the country today, comprising 8.5 percent of the population, according to 2020 census figures of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
This is a big group of human resource that can be tapped to contribute to economic activity, most still fit to work, and many having experiences that can be valuable to a trade.
“The ‘silver dividend’, or the additional productivity that can be gained from the untapped work capacity of older people, can boost gross domestic product by up to 1.5 percent in the economies studied,” said a recent Asian Development Bank (ADB) Policy report on “Aging Well in Asia.”
The same report cites a notable finding: “The working capacity of older people in Asia is a sizable untapped resource. Formal workers typically retire as soon as they are eligible for a pension, despite a substantial increase in healthy longevity. More than 80 percent of men aged 60–64 are healthy enough to work, but many are not gainfully employed.”
The senior citizens who have the capacity and desire to work can benefit from information on services that, as the proposed measure will mandate, will be provided by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) through the Public Employment Service Offices (PESO).
“All government agencies and private entities shall institute an employment program that promotes the general well-being of senior citizens and ensure access to employment opportunities to those who have the qualifications, capacity, and interest to be employed,” the bill stated.
There will be an incentive to private companies that would employ senior citizens as employees, upon the effectivity of the law, entitling them to an additional deduction from their gross income.
A significant benefit of the proposed measure is that it will prohibit all government agencies and corporations to charge fees for documents required for employment and other transactions, such as birth certificate, police clearance, medical certificate.
Once signed into law, HB 10985 will further amend Republic Act 7432, entitled “An Act to Maximize the Contribution of Senior Citizens to Nation-Building, Grant Benefits and Special Privileges” signed into law by the late President Cory Aquino in April 1992. Several amendments to RA 7432 have been made through the years.
Many countries have laws that encourage their senior citizens to go back to work, and contribute to the economy. These laws have increased incentives for companies employing seniors, and have extended the retirement age to 65.
The ADB policy report urges: “Governments must improve working conditions and strengthen the labor rights of older informal workers. Older workers in formal sectors can benefit from more flexible career pathways and transitions from work to retirement by extending the outdated statutory retirement ages. Lifelong learning can improve productivity and employability.”
We should not waste this valuable human resource.