3.6 million: Estimated number of Filipinos aged 65 and older, according to the latest data from the National Statistics Office as of 2007. This figure represents 4.1 percent of the country’s total population.

88: Total number of validated living supercentenarians (aged 110 or older) worldwide, according to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group as of Aug. 2, 2011.  Of this figure, 82 are females while six are males.

20 percent: Discount on goods enjoyed by senior citizens in the country, in accordance with Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010. Senior citizens also enjoy exemption from the value-added tax.

P500: Minimum monthly stipend received by eligible indigent senior citizens in the country per the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.

30: Age when people start to show signs of vertebral and disk degeneration on x-ray.  Continued wearing away of the spine may cause cervical spondylosis, an age-related degenerative condition of the cartilage and bones of the neck. Last month, former President (now Pampanga Rep.) Gloria Arroyo underwent surgery for treatment of cervical spondylosis.

10 to 15: Usual duration in minutes of a botox procedure.  Done in a doctor’s office, injections of botox, short for botulinum toxin A, is done either to treat certain medical problems or to improve facial wrinkles.

69: Age of Lucila Valdez Raguingan, a grandmother who graduated from high school early this year in Ilocos Norte.

Compiled by Schatzi Quodala, Inquirer Research

Sources: NSO, NSCB, grg.org, dswd.gov.ph, nlm.nih.gov, emedicine.medscape.com, mayoclinic.com, PDI Archives