Yesterday’s 100th birthday celebration of Juan Ponce Enrile, fondly called Manong Johnny, who serves presently as the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel, calls attention to longevity of Filipinos.

On Feb. 17, Whang-od Oggay, a Filipino cultural icon, will mark her 107th birthday. According to a New York Times story, she is also known as Apo Maria Oggay, a tattoo artist from the village of Buscalan in Tinglayan, Kalinga-Apayao, and is often described as the “last” and oldest mambabatok; she belongs to the Butbut people of the Kalinga ethnic group. In April 2023, 106-year-old Whang-od became the oldest person to grace the cover of Vogue Philippines magazine.

President Marcos conferred on Apo Whang-od the Presidential Merit Award in Malacañang yesterday, Feb. 14, “in recognition of her unparalleled contributions to Philippine heritage and culture.”

The Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS), displays an infographic in its website that says: “Did you know that Filipinos have a life expectancy of 71 years? This is an increase of 15 years in the average lifespan compared to the 1960s. With the improvement of the Filipino population’s health, there is a need to ensure social security and health services for the elderly.”

The current life expectancy for Filipinos is 71.79 years old, according to Macrotrends, a digital information service that provides access to key economic and demographic indicators. In Macrotrends’ table of life expectancy in the Philippines from 1950 to 2024, the baseline is at 54.49 years in 1950; 60.70 years in 1960; and 63.06 in 1970. If the concept of a generation is flexed to 25 years, the life expectancy in 1975 was 63.23 years, or just slightly higher than the 1970 figure; in 2000, it was at 68.73 years.

The Philippine Statistics Authority’s 2020 census reports that there were 9,222,672 Filipinos who were 60 years old and over; 5,855,449 were 65 years old and over. Both houses of Congress have passed Senate Bill 2028, Expanding the Coverage of the Centenarians Act. Its actual enactment will come after being reviewed by the Office of the President. This bodes well for Filipino centenarians. As contemplated in the updated Centenarians Act, Filipino senior citizens living in the Philippines or abroad shall be granted ₱10,000 upon reaching 80 years old, ₱20,000 upon reaching 90 years old and ₱100,000 upon reaching 100 years old.

Senators Imee Marcos and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, who sponsored and introduced the bill, respectively, noted that many Filipinos do not reach the age of 100 and are unable to enjoy the “benefits and privileges of the present law which awards ₱100,000 cash to every Filipino centenarian.” They cited the rising cost of living and healthcare expenses that has made it very difficult for senior citizens to afford basic necessities. According to a 2017 UP Diliman study: “Older Filipinos are generally not materially well-off, not well-educated and about half consider themselves to be of average health, but have poor use of health services. They also believe that it would be best living by themselves.”

Beyond increasing monetary benefits, it is imperative that health care services for elderly Filipinos be upgraded significantly – and that they be afforded the opportunity to enjoy gentler, kinder living into their sunset years.