Pampanga Provincial Board Member Tarcicio “Tars” D.C. Halili recently filed a resolution with the Sangguniang Panlalawigan that is meant to give retired teachers who are now senior citizens a second wind.
Halili’s resolution calls on local government units (LGUs) to hire the services of public and private school teachers who had retired from the service and are now members of senior citizen organizations.
“They could be hired as part time teachers, consultants or advisers of day care center in the LGUs provincewide,” Halili explained.
He added that these senior members of society need to engage in productive activity to keep their mind and body active and that this could be adopted as a special program of the LGUs.
“It is common knowledge that teacher retirees are now mostly members of the elderly sector, and are now mostly idle and whose retirement pay is hardly enough to sustain their needs, especially if they are already taking regular medication.”
This move, according to Halili, shall be in accordance with RA 9257 as amended by RA 9994 which requires the government to motivate and encourage senior citizens to contribute to nation building. Hiring their services, he says, will encourage them to actively involve themselves in community building, particularly in the development of young people in their formative years.
The resolution also requests LGUs to allocate a separate budget for the program and its adoption be made in coordination with the provincial government for possible support and, thus, enhance their capability in implementing it.
This resolution is a step towards empowering our senior citizens even after their retirement “for them to become still productive partners in community building”, Halili concluded. (PIO Pampanga)
