LAOAG CITY—A home care
facility for the aged will soon rise in San Juan, La Union courtesy of the
Department of Social Welfare and Development Office.
The facility’s initial
construction phase budget of PHP12 million and will be located Sta. Rosa de
Lima St. Ili Norte. It will cater to the needs of abandoned, ailing senior
citizens and those neglected by relatives due to financial difficulties.
DSWD asst. regional director
for administration Nora D. Dela Paz said the proposed home for the elderly in
Region 1 is “a long-awaited dream now being turned into a reality with the help
of the national government”.
After its completion, the
regional office said they will prioritize abandoned, neglected, unattached,
homeless and abused senior citizens.
Meanwhile, DSWSD Region I operations
and programs division chief Benjamin Baldo disclosed that the lot was located and
identified more than 20 years ago but it is only this year that the national
government approved its funding.
In a statement, the San Juan local
government unit represented by executive assistant Oscar Ganaden Jr. welcomed
this development.
“We are very lucky in San
Juan to have this project. We hope that we will be able to give the necessary
care and respect to our grandfathers and grandmothers as they reach their
twilight years,” he said.
“Filipino families are known
to have close ties but due to changing culture, some families are becoming more
nuclear”, said Ranilo Ipac, La Union provincial social welfare and development officer.
In a DSWD survey conducted
three years ago, Mr. Ipac noted that found at least 700 senior citizens living
by themselves in La Union alone. He said the same situation is also prevalent
in parts of the Ilocos provinces and Pangasinan.
Under a memorandum of agreement,
the La Union provincial social welfare and development office under DSWD Region
1’s technical supervision will manage the two-storey residential care facility
for the aged.
For his part, DSWD Regional
Director Marcelo Nicomedes Castillo is hopeful other provinces in the region
will also host their own facility soon. (Leilanie G. Adriano)
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