Demographic issues

It is not uncommon to see Filipina yayas pushing strollers of children in Singapore’s shopping centers. Every now and then you would hear a word or two in Tagalog. My grandchildren in Singapore are also growing up with a Filipina kasambahay. I am hoping they will pick up some Tagalog words too.

I once read a story of some Saudi children who were so attached to their Filipina yaya that they refused to eat when the yaya went home for vacation. There are many similar stories. A Singaporean filmmaker even produced an internationally award-winning film titled Iloilo, his yaya’s home province, that fondly remembers his yaya.

I often wonder how thousands of Pinay yayas influenced the upbringing of all those rich and middle-class children in the Middle East, Europe, Singapore and Hongkong. Would the future leaders of the world be yearning for adobo and sisig? Would they have a soft spot for Filipinos because they spent more time as kids with their Pinay second mom than their own mothers? Would they listen to their yaya’s favorite song, “Kahapon at Pag-ibig” by Asin, as the Singaporean kid in the Iloilo movie did to remember her?

The yayas working abroad eventually return home. But more and more Filipinos are leaving for good. They are discouraged by our fast-growing population, our economy’s inability to feed, to properly educate and create jobs. Our educated class realizes that our horrible politicians are firmly entrenched. So, those who can, simply vote with their feet for countries that are better governed to protect their children’s future and assure their old age health needs. With the dwindling population of their host countries, their presence is probably welcome.

Our governance problems can only get worse as our population grows to a projected 138.67 million by 2055. That’s assuming that the total fertility rate of 1.9 children per woman in 2021 will be sustained until 2055, according to a Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) study released last February  2024.

The PSA said the working-age population, 15 to 64 years old, accounted for 64 percent of the midyear population in 2020. “This group is expected to comprise 67 percent of the projected midyear population by 2055.”

That’s the demographic sweet spot some folks are raving about. It looks like good news. There will be more people working to boost our consumer driven economy. Except for one thing…the failure of our educational system makes it difficult for them to get worthwhile jobs. They may end up depending on government handouts from politicians, courtesy of the taxpayers.

Here is another problem. The population aged 60 and over comprised about 8.5 percent of the midyear population in 2020. The percentage share of this age group is expected to increase to about 19.6 percent of the projected midyear population in 2055 or about 28 million. This is one big group that will need increasing social support specially for serious medical care.

Some weeks ago, I wrote about the need to enable senior citizens to get access to decent hospital care because our private sector pay-as-you-go system is too expensive even for the middle class. I am glad that Rep Joey Salceda felt the same way and agreed something ought to be done.

But he didn’t say when our increasing number of seniors can start getting medical assistance for catastrophic medical events from cancer to heart attack. I was proposing for starters, that hospital bills for seniors (including doctors’ professional fees) be income tax deductible. Afterall, the state failed to provide for the patient’s right to medical care.

“The problem of access to senior citizen healthcare is structural, but it should be addressed alongside other issues with senior citizen welfare,” Cong. Joey observed.

“The core of the SC welfare issue is how to address (1) increasing needs for specialized services with (2) reduced personal incomes due to retirement. That naturally produces a gap in personal capacity to finance not just healthcare, but even basic necessities and the little pleasures that come with dignified old age.

“The average senior makes around  3,000 per month, which keeps around 47 percent of them below the poverty line. The welfare gap – or what we need to give all seniors a decent life – is around  9.1 trillion.

“Around 18 percent of the welfare gap – P1.64 trillion –  is the healthcare financing gap. That’s what we need to find ways of addressing. Within that gap, there are chronic conditions that require primary and supportive healthcare. That is where PhilHealth primarily devotes its resources.

“The unfilled gap is in acute or catastrophic health care. Without insurance, such medical expenses can be ruinous to ordinary families with senior citizens. The very limited case rates under PhilHealth’s existing packages simply won’t do. I am exploring a separate insurance fund under PhilHealth to address this gap. The risk profile is different, so the fund also has to be different.

“The fiscal resources for health are not yet exhausted. The absorptive capacity of the DOH to spend it in full typically falls short. There’s usually around 40 billion in excess funds that can be used to support a more aggressive seniors health insurance system – apart from the excess reserve funds of PhilHealth.”

Forget what technocrats say about a bright future due to our demographic sweet spot. For now, we should be happy we are able to export some of our people to release increasing demographic pressure because of our inability to create enough jobs in the domestic economy. That’s not so bad if only we trained them better so they can have a chance for higher paying jobs.

I would rather export our politicians and retain the professionals who are leaving. But who would take them? Even hell may hesitate. Only our voters would have them but only because of the cycle of dependence the politicians created that gives them no choice.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco.