2020 Annual Report on the Human Rights Situation in the Philippines
45
urinary ailments are the
next highest, although at
much lower levels, with
all below 13%. In all, more
than half (58%) of older
Filipinos have at least one
of the risky comorbidities
for
COVID-19.192
The vulnerability of
some older persons to
the COVID-19 is not
entirely inherent to the
consequences of an aging
body. Some older people
are also more vulnerable
because of social and
economic reasons. This
includes older people’s
socioeconomic
status
and source of income,
living
arrangements,
dependency on daily
support, and access to
basic needs, health care,
and useful information,
among others.193 As older persons are a heterogeneous group, the disease disproportionately
affects the older poor who are women, indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities,
among others. Even without the current pandemic, some older Filipinos are economically
vulnerable.194
144
Some older persons also have isolation and mobility challenges. In the Philippines, a survey
shows that a considerable proportion of older persons (13%) live alone.195 The same survey
shows that more than a fifth of older persons has difficulty performing at least one of the
seven activities of daily living (ADL), which cover bathing and/or showering, dressing,
eating, standing up from a bed or chair or sitting down on a chair, walking around the
house, going outside or leaving the house, and using the toilet. With the suspension of
mass transport, mobility to procure food and medicines or to visit the hospital for regular
checkups for these older persons become especially challenging. Also, older persons
who live alone may not receive updated information on what to do and how to protect
themselves against the disease.196
145
The imposition of strict 24-hour mandatory quarantine for older persons is also a challenge,
especially for older persons who head households. With the changing family dynamics
brought by increasing labor mobility, some grandparents are left as guardians and caregivers
to their grandchildren, whose parents work far from home. Older people who rely on
daily income from work that necessitates going out of the house (such as a market vendor)
192
See Beyond the Numbers: COVID-19 and the Philippine population Research Brief No. 1 (COVID-19 and the Older
Filipino Population: How many are at Risk?).
193
See CHR (V) A2020-007.
194
Christian Joy P. Cruz, Chapter 7: Economic Well-Being, Ageing and Health in the Philippines, at 108, available at
https://www.eria.org/publications/ageing-and-health-in-the-philippines/, accessed 27 March 2020.
195
Christian Joy P. Cruz and Grace T. Cruz, Chapter 3: Filipinos Older Persons, in Ageing and Health in the Philippines,
at 36, available at https://www.eria.org/publications/ageing-and-health-in-the-philippines/, accessed 27 March 2020.
196
See CHR (V) A2020-007.