There’s no telling how many of us seniors will make it to a hundred—never mind how many of us would be in any condition to party.
Recently, I was privileged to guest at the 100th birthday of the amazing Tita Naty Lopez-Rizal Francisco, who managed not only to party, but dance—and not once, but again and again. Her late son’s band—well, actually, they were the sons of the old band members—came to play her favorite songs and dance music.
As soon as she heard the rhumba rhythm of the Spanish song “Reloj” begin to fill the air, muscle memory took over, and Tita Naty was up from her wheelchair, announcing she wanted to dance: “Gusto kong sumayaw!”
Her grandson promptly took her in his arms and gently swayed her to the Latin beat. But she wasn’t done yet; when she heard one cha-cha number after another, grandnephews came up to indulge her.
Regular ballroom dancing, in fact, may have contributed to the three Lopez-Rizal sisters’ long lives. Time was when she and her older sisters, always chaperoned by her nieces, shared one dancing instructor between them. To keep her mind sharp, on the other hand, she solves crosswords every day.
Big deal
Tita Naty’s sister Sony Bantug, my best friend Bea’s mom, the eldest of the three, herself reached 99, and the middle sister Tita Mameng Consunji is 101; she wasn’t up to celebrating when her 100th happened; I’d have attended that, too. That’s how close our families, the Lopez-Rizals and the Roces-Reyeses, have been, and the closeness goes down to my generation’s grandchildren.
As rare as 100th birthdays come, it seems there’s more and more of them happening these days. Offhand, I personally know of eight who have made it. The two Lopez-Rizal sisters, and Mrs. Meding Rodrigo, and the eternal Mrs. Jesse Lichauco, who are both still going strong, and Mrs. Esther Montemayor, Col. Juan Zapanta, and Mrs. Conchita Ortoll and our very own Dolores “Loling” Calvo Roces, whose hundredth I had attended, too—all have gone over a hundred, although the last four have moved on.
That’s just from my own small circle, but anyway you look at it, a 100th birthday is definitely a big deal! I wonder if they collected their ultimate senior prize of a hundred thousand pesos.
A daughter of 102-year-old Tita Meng’s went to her barangay a month before her mother’s 100th with her birth certificate to advise them. But instead of elation, she was met with seeming suspicion, as her mother’s papers were put through inordinate scrutiny.
Rather than argue with them, she just walked out. And with good reason. She knew only too well of her mother’s many years of civic work and donations to the community where she lived practically all her life.
After some investigation, the barangay officials discovered such well-enough-known facts and hurriedly made amends; the contrite city officials personally delivered the check to the bedridden centenarian.
Technical hitch
In the case of Tita Naty, a longtime widow, a technical hitch is causing a slight delay in the release of her money. She had moved out to another city to live with her eldest sister’s daughter, Bea, three years ago, while the sister was still alive; that was also after her only son had died. Apparently, the entitlement requires a continuous residency of five years. Therefore, Tita Naty would have to wait two more years.
Not that she might not make it, because she just might.
However, the good news from the barangay is that the requirement is being waived in her case. The mayor is just sorting his schedule; he would like to personally hand the check to her.
Makati seniors have always had it good, thanks to Jejomar Binay. It was he who began giving a twice-yearly allowance of a thousand pesos to seniors in their 60s, five hundred more to those in their 70s, and another five hundred for those in their 80s. His son Junjun continued the practice, and sweetened it with P100,000 for centenarians.
Special treatment
According to Ms Florence Ferrer, of Makati’s social welfare department’s section for the elderly, Makati seniors seem indeed to be receiving special treatment. The city has, in fact, been attracting seniors —some, unfortunately, through spurious ways.
Some “wise” people have gone to the trouble of recruiting elderly relatives from the provinces to get them senior benefits from Makati. Many Makati fake senior cards used for free movie admissions were uncovered. Ferrer’s section’s screeners have been increasingly vigilant.
The centenarian needs to show proof of age by a birth certificate, proof of life by posing for a picture holding the newspaper on the day of his or her 100th birthday, and proof of having resided in Makati for five years, which should be reflected in the senior blue card.
The Binay brainchild for seniors is now being studied on a national level. Practical options are being suggested; one is to start distributing the centenarian’s bonus in yearly tranches from the time the senior hits 90, until his or her demise.
This is not a bad idea. How many of us will get to 90, much less to one hundred?
Not as uncommon
But Ms Florence Ferrer tells me it’s not as uncommon as I think. Since Junjun’s time, when the program began, some four years ago, there have been 27 centenarians. There are three more scheduled to receive the bonus in the next quarter, and two more in the next.
The distribution is done quarterly, with a short ceremony followed by a merienda at City Hall. If the senior passes away before the scheduled ceremony, for as long as the papers required have already been submitted, the money will be given to the relatives.
We seniors are a diminishing tribe who have paid our dues to society. Medical and pre-departure expenses might just drain away our remaining resources, and when we finally go, estate taxes will be heaped on our heirs, on the very same property we had been paying real estate taxes for while alive.
Unless, of course, as often happens, our heirs would have had to sell to cover our going-away hospital bills.
It’s hard enough being old. But it’s a welcome consolation for citizens to receive some kind of bonus from the government in recognition of a hundred years of existence—definitely an accomplishment in itself.