The City Council, during last Monday’s regular session, approved on first reading a proposed ordinance further amending Section 6 of Ordinance No. 1, series of 2003 or the Baguio Number Coding Scheme as amended by Ordinance No. 31, series of 2004 and Ordinance No. 107, series of 2008.
Under the proposed ordinance, included in the exemptions from the implementation of the Baguio Number Coding Scheme are motor vehicles transporting senior citizens who are bonafide residents of the city either as driver or passengers to and from a medical clinic, hospital or place of work.
The ordinance pointed out that transportation services are necessary for senior citizens to be able to maximize their contribution to nation-building and to have easier access to their medical services and mobility to and from their workplaces.
It added that reduced access to needed medical emergencies, hospital visits, official duties, and other essential services shall put the senior citizens at a disadvantage and health risk, hence, the need to include in the exemptions and coverage from the implementation of the Baguio number coding ordinance.
The ordinance explains that consistent with the constitutional principles, the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 or Republic Act (RA) 9994 shall serve various objectives such as to recognize the rights of senior citizens to take their proper place in society and make it a concern of the family, community and government; give full support to the improvement of the total wellbeing of the elderly and their full participation in society, considering that senior citizens are integral part of the Philippine society; motivate and encourage the senior citizens to contribute to nation building; encourage their families and the communities they live with to reaffirm the valued Filipino tradition of caring for the senior citizens; provide a comprehensive health care and rehabilitation system for disabled senior citizens to foster their capacity to attain a more meaningful and productive aging and recognize the important role of the private sector in the improvement of the welfare of senior citizens and to actively seek their partnership.
The law establishes mechanisms where the contributions of the senior citizens are maximized; adopts measures where senior citizens are assisted and appreciated by the community as a whole; establishes a program beneficial to the senior citizens, their families and the rest of the community they serve and establish community-based health and rehabilitation programs for senior citizens in every political unit of society. By Dexter A. See
