Fuentes is spearheading the undertaking of an ambitious pilot project, the Senior Citizens Skills Inventory, intended to determine the actual expertise and potential services that senior citizens can render in the task of nation-building. It’s also meant to assess their talents, skills and capabilities so that programs can be developed to harness them.
Fuentes cites Republic Act 7432 which was authored by Sen. Edgardo Angara, otherwise known as the Senior Citizens Law, as "an act to mandate and encourage the senior citizens to contribute to nation-building... it aims to establish mechanism whereby the contributions of senior citizens are maximized... to adopt measures whereby our senior citizens are assisted and appreciated by the community as a whole... and to establish a program beneficial to the senior citizens, their families and the rest of the community that they serve." This law declares that an important function of the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs, assisted by the Community Development Office and in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development is "to draw up a list of available and required services which can be provided by the senior citizens."
This law was signed by former President Corazon Aquino on April 23, 1992. The above-mentioned mandate, up to now, has not been given the due attention and compliance that it merits.
Seeing that no action has been taken by government so far to actualize the provisions of this law regarding the maximization of the senior citizens’ contribution to nation-building, Fuentes has taken upon himself the task of initiating a pilot senior citizens skills inventory so that appropriate action can be taken.
The inventory is a direct, complete census of the senior citizen population within the Quezon City area. It is a clear, specific, accurate quantitative and qualitative mass of data about the senior citizens in Quezon City. It aims to find out the following:
1) The definition and classification of the kinds of skills presently available.
2) Who among the group are currently employed and the nature of their employment.
3) Who are unemployed and why they are unemployed.
4) What skills are under-utilized and why.
5) Who are inclined to participate in skills-training.
6) What skills they want to develop.
7) And such other pertinent data and information that can help design productive projects.
Fuentes avers that to establish mechanisms whereby the contribution of the senior citizens is maximized, those mechanisms must match the available, employable skills of the senior citizens. He believes that there is no other more efficient, more effective way to design projects than to know what skills are available and the extent of the willingness of the senior citizens in participating in skills-training required for proposed projects. The specific skills, both actual and potential, must be identified and measured beforehand. The skills inventory shall provide the precise guidance.
The inventory survey forms were designed and are copyrighted by Fuentes. These shall be distributed to the 102 registered senior citizens associations in Quezon City, or about 137,000 duly registered senior citizens.
The Senior Citizens Skills Inventory was launched on July 11, 2002 after the completion of the orientation of the first batch of team leaders to oversee the inventory. The inventory is ongoing but so far only in District III of Quezon City. Only the DSWD has responded to Fuentes’ appeal for donation of the blank inventory forms. The forms are good only for part of District III comprising 7.4 percent (85 reams of 42,500 sheets) of the total needed forms (574,445 sheets or 1,149 reams or 114,889 sets). Fuentes has written different government entities including senators, councilors, PAGCOR, PCSO and Landbank appealing for financial support but the response has been negative. He used to air a radio program over DWSS 1494 called "A Senior Citizen Speaks." The earnings from the advertisements were used to defray the cost of the inventory. The program has been discontinued following a change of ownership of the radio station. The president pro-tempore of the Quezon City council, Hon. Jorge Banal, has authored and filed a resolution authorizing Mayor Sonny Belmonte to allocate P100,000 as financial assistance for the inventory through the OSCA. But after almost two years, the resolution is still pending in the city council.
Despite the disappointing non-response to his appeals for assistance, Fuentes is determined to continue with the project. There’s the data processing to think of after the data shall have been gathered. Fuentes is asking computer schools like the AMA to make it part of their curriculum to process the data and to grant academic credits to the participating students as an incentive.
Fuentes is also soliciting a couple of used computer units for senior citizens who want to learn to use computers at the OSCA office. He has written AMA to provide the available trainors, but there has been no response.
Nothing fazes Fuentes. He knows he has a job to do and will see to it that it is done. He derives no monetary gain for his effort. Fuentes has formed a Senior Citizens’ Advisory and Advocacy Group of 11 committed members which is a think-tank that conducts studies and proposes projects. One of the proposed projects is the Golden Age Multi-Purpose Cooperative, a one-stop shop where basic commodities like medicines and groceries may be bought. The group is also planning to set up rolling stores to reach out to the senior citizens. The group believes that the quality of life of senior citizens can certainly be improved. After all, a senior citizen is a rich repository of invaluable knowledge, wisdom, experience and expertise which can very well be utilized in the task of nation-building.