Solon bats for creation of ‘vulnerable sectors desk’ to protect elderly, PWDs
A lawmaker on Monday urged swift action from authorities regarding the elderly abuse case in Antipolo City and called for the creation of a “Vulnerable Sectors Desk” in the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Senior Citizen Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes called on the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Antipolo City Office of Senior Citizen Affairs (OSCA) to closely monitor the case and provide the victim with proper care.
A video that went viral over the weekend showed an elderly woman with a disability being toyed with and made fun of by four of her grandsons in Barangay Dela Paz, Antipolo City, on March 31.
Ordanes criticized the men for their cruel treatment of their PWD grandmother.
He urged the PNP and the Department of Justice’s prosecutor in Antipolo City to “immediately take proper and swift action in this case of elderly abuse.”
“They shouldn’t drop the case. They shouldn’t dismiss the case even if there’s a settlement because those settlements would be used as excuses to avoid criminal liability,” the lawmaker said in Filipino, adding:
“The grandmother’s assailants committed a public crime and should be held criminally liable.”
Ordanes asked PNP Chief Gen Rommel Marbil to expand the coverage of the policewomen and children’s desk to include senior citizens and PWDs, who were “often victims of abuse,” citing the need for the establishment of a “Vulnerable Sectors Desk.”
Meanwhile, the lawmaker expects his proposed measure against elderly abuse, House Bill 2096, to be approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives and transmitted to the Senate when Congress resumes its session in June.
He suggested that while waiting for HB 2096 to become a law, the Anti-Domestic Violence against Women and Their Children Act (Republic Act No. 9262) “can be used to hold abusers liable.”
He further called on the DSWD and the Antipolo City OSCA to ensure that the case against the young men continues and the victim is given proper care, saying:
“The grandmother should be separated from her abusive relatives. Her care should be entrusted to a guardian who genuinely loves her.”
