Women legislators together / SeLO for senior citizens

The 15th Congress has the biggest number of lady legislators in Philippine history. But at 64, they’re still a minority representing a fourth fraction of the whole congressional membership.

“Greatness lies not in numbers, but in unity and the right use of strength,” says Rep. Gina P. de Venecia. “And with solidarity we shall thrive, we shall prevail.”

The Pangasinan (second district) representative was recently elected president of the Association of Lady Legislators (ALL), which was founded in 2001 by Rep. Cynthia Villar and headed it for three terms (from the 12th to the 14th Congress).

ALL officers and members will pay a courtesy call on President Aquino at Malacanang on Friday.

ALL today is a formidable force of women legislators, including former President and now Congresswoman (2nd district of Pampanga) Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and former First Lady now Congresswoman (2nd district, Ilocos Norte) Imelda Romualdez-Marcos.

And most, if not all, of the lawmakers have worked for the passage of the landmark Magna Carta for Women, the Anti-Violence Against Women and the Anti-Trafficking Persons Act. As Gina stated during her acceptance speech, “We will continue to be vigilant in uplifting and guaranteeing women’s rights, that men and women are equal, that we are co-builders of our nation, and that together, we must struggle for the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to advance democracy and human rights, to fight corruption, poverty and extremism, and to combat climate change and environmental degradation.”

Proposed ALL activities cover public health, livelihood, peace and order, and the environment. Under these are a free Pap smear program in depressed areas in cooperation with DOH, a free eye refraction project and reading glass distribution, and addressing the dengue disease problem.

Under livelihood trainings are recycling and waste segregation for indigent families, and policewomen and police-men’s wives.

To help keep the peace, ALL supports policemen riding in tandem, a reward system for informers, and enhancing barangay tanods’ participation in barangay activities. 

Representative de Venecia is well-known for projects she organized when she was president of the Congressional Spouses Foundation Inc. (CSFI) for three terms. These directly help women-in-crisis, drug-dependent children, abandoned elderly and orphaned mothers.

She recent received a special recognition from the Department of Social Welfare and Development for having supported humanitarian services. Other honorees at the rites attended by President Aquino were Don Emilio Yap of the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp., the World Bank, the Australian Agency for International Development, and the Asian Development Bank.

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“The young feel tired at the end of an action; the old at the beginning.” — T.S. Eliot.

Senior citizens, more especially those in their seventies, may very well relate to this humorously candid observation of literary critic, poet, dramatist Thomas Stearns Eliot. Having that in mind, it was such a pleasant surprise for those present at last week’s Bulong-Pulungan at the Sofitel Hotel to learn that a group of old folks are banding together to undertake a mission that will require the continued use of their talents, skills and resources to help different sectors of society.

The brains and sparkplug behind the movement is public relations guru Reli German who brought along with him to the weekly media forum, his buddy from the anti-Marcos parliament of the street days and his classmate from the Ateneo, former Senator Butz Aquino, and Reli’s associate in his PR firm Agents International, Rey Constantino. The only junior in his group, although not present at the forum, is also from Agents, BJ David, his nickname standing for Benjamin Joseph, an appropriate combination of young and old.

“During the lull in the Christmas holidays, I felt I was somehow struck by lightning, such that I was possessed with the idea of doing something truly significant in my senior years,” Reli said, by way of introducing his latest brainchild. The idea, he pointed out, was to get seniors who are still active and productive, to do something for the betterment of society.

“Pakikibahagi . . . palatandaan ng nakatatanda.”That, Reli said, encapsulates the essence of his pakulo. Many of us in the audience voiced out our opinion that while the slogan did drive across the message, it was a tongue-twister. However, he quickly assured us that by the end of his power-point presentation, he’d reveal another buzz phrase.

The name of the group is SeLO which stands for Seniors Legacy Organization. Reli said he based the name on Tandang Selo in Jose Rizal’s El Filibusterismo. It was Selo who took care of Basilio, a lead character in Noli Me Tangere, when the young and sick man ran away from home. Without Tandang Selo’s care, Basilio would never have reached the point of graduation from medical school by the end of Fili. Selo was also the father of Kabesang Tales, the bandit known as Matanglawin. Father and son eventually died in an encounter with the Guardia Civil.

SeLO is meant to provide still capable senior citizens the opportunity to share with individuals or groups who are productive but are struggling because of their lack of experience, expertise — knowhow and/or resources that SeLO members possess.

For the group’s pilot project, Reli sought out Ofelia Sicabalos whose life story as a successful yet struggling smalltime entrepreneur was published in a broadsheet last December. He met with Aling Fely, her husband and a daughter and offered SeLO’s help in developing, mass-producing and marketing the different products that she and some helpers painstakingly make by hand out of water lilies that clog our waterways. Aling Fely has had to turn down large orders for shoes, bags, placemats and other products only because she does not have the equipment, machinery and resources to mass produce.   

“By coincidence,” Reli exclaimed, “I recently bumped into former Trade Secretary Peter Favila and he told me about the facility that during his term, the DTI put up in Laguna that processes and converts water lilies into durable material for the kind of products that Aling Fely makes.”

During the presentation, Reli’s enthusiasm was markedly evident. He confessed he would not be this gung-ho about SeLO if he had not received encouragement from Butz and his other senior friends. Well, that afternoon, he got an additional boost as immediate solid support from Charito Planas and Bulong Pulungan, and pledges of other forms of help to SeLO were given by the attendees.

In the end, Reli revealed SeLO’s non-tongue-twister battlecry: “Getting old ... enriching passion with compassion.” Beautiful. Eat your heart out, T.S. Eliot.   

Those who would like to get involved with SeLO may call 0917-3231555.

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