Sunrise Ministry’s First Seniors’ Day Assembly
The Ministry for Seniors, also known as ‘Sunrise Ministry’, of Christ the King Parish was launched last April 30, 2017. An exhibit of paintings by members of the Sunrise Artists Group opened at 9 AM, with ribbon cutting by Fr. James Ferry assisted by the ministry’s core members. The formal launching was at the 5 pm Eucharistic celebration, presided by Bishop Raul Martirez.
The first Seniors’ Day assembly was held last June 24, Saturday, from 9 am to 12 noon. The event was organized by the ‘Sunrise Ministry’, which is the name of CTK’s Ministry for the Elderly, headed by Doy and Estrelle Lopez, former heads of CTK’s Family & Life Ministry.
The organizers promised lots of fun and surprises – and indeed they delivered. Outside the hall was a nurse station where three AIDE nurses were measuring blood pressure and giving BP management advice. just inside the sliding door was a booth dispensing Glucobest for diabetes control.
After Fr. Bong Tupino gave his welcome remarks, Mieto Bacus of Unilab, a regular motivational speaker, gave an inspiring discussion on ‘The Senior Years: A Celebration of Life”, spiced with lots of jokes and anecdotes.
This was followed by a medical-oriented talk on ‘Killing Your Pains Without Killing Your Kidneys’. The speaker, Dra. Porshia Comes- Natividad MD, an Associate Professor at the UST Faculty of Medicine & Surgery, a practicing nephrologist and who had been teaching about kidney diseases for the past 10 years, went through the types of painkillers that most seniors take, their prescriptions , contraindications and risks. She then talked about the kidneys and the liver as the waste disposal units of the human body and how certain painkillers, taken in large doses or frequently or for extended periods, could damage the kidneys beyond all recovery. She also went through frequently asked questions like: an aspirin everyday as recommended by my doctor to prevent heart attacks – will it hurt my kidneys? (A: no evidence if in small doses)
Dra. Natividad’s take-home messages: different types of drugs kill pain but it’s important to know the cause of your pain; pain killers are safe and effective to use, but at the recommended doses, but used improperly could cause kidney problems; for patients with kidney disease , analgesics like paracetamol and tramadol are safe to use at recommended doses; do not use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen ) and COX- 2 inhibitors (such as Vioxx, Celebrex) if you have impaired kidney function (< 90 ml per
min); avoid prolonged use and avoid high doses of pain relievers of any kind.
The organizing team pulled out all the stops – in addition to the three main talks, the program was enlivened by icebreakers (Luong Cuartero organized the participants into groups and asked everyone in the group to talk about their origins and what they were doing), displays (Anna Lagman as Creative Committee in charge showing off the products of the previous painting sessions), sing-alongs (Girl Valencia, CTK parishioner, professional singer, and daughter of Marriage Vocation Program facilitators Boy and Tes Valencia, who led the crowd into group singing, and dancercise (eirst, LOC dance instructor Mark Reniva who led everyone into a dancercise segment, later followed by CTK PPC secretary Fely Ong leading the attendees into a six-routine zumba break.
The einal speaker was CTK regular Jorge Banal, current president of the Federation of Senior Citizens’ Associations of the Philippines, who talked about the ‘Rights and Privileges of Seniors in the Philippines’.
Jorge talked about:
Free Dental , Medical Services, and Vaccination, including, X-rays, blood test, computerized tomography scans, vaccination, but not limited to in government facilities as long as it’s owned by the government. Along with the services availed, the professional fee of the doctor must be 100% waived when availed by a senior citizen.
Free Parking in Quezon City Malls and Exemption from Number Coding Scheme in Makati. When in Quezon city, you don’t need to pay any parking fee in your first three hours in the mall. The process to qualify is different for each mall so make sure to present your ID before entering just to make sure. The only 9me you will be charged is when you stay more than three hours. Now if you live in Makati, you are also exempted from all number coding scheme in the city.
Educational Scholarship. If the senior citizen decides to pursue secondary, vocational, post tertiary or technical education, they are entitled to educa9onal assistance in the form of grants and subsidies. All the senior citizen needs to do is to meet all the admission requirement of their chosen ins9tu9on.
5% Off Water and Electricity Bill. Senior citizens are en9tled to a 5% discount from monthly utility bills including water and electricity services, provided that the account is registered under the name of the senior citizen and does not exceed a 100 kWh of electricity or 30 cubic meters of water.
Discounts for Air and Sea Transportation Fees within the country. All senior citizens are subject not just for the 20% discount but also VAT exemption.
Mandatory Government Assistance Including Death Benefit Assistance, Social Pension and PhilHealth Coverage. As soon as a person is officially a senior citizen, they are automatically entitled to receive PhilHealth coverage, death benefit assistance and financial help when needed. This includes a minimum of P2,000 death benefit assistance, P500 monthly stipend for indigent senior citizens, and receive financial, food and medical assistance.
Free Movies on Mondays. Senior ci9zens have free admission to most cinemas in the country every Monday. To qualify for this privilege, you need to be from the same city where the mall is located.
Express Lanes. Senior ci9zens also have their own express lanes in all government offices, most banks, fast-food restaurants, movie houses, and even bathrooms. All they need to do is ask assistance from any employee and they will instantly be led to the exclusive lane, or if none exists, pushed in front of the queue.
Jorge Banal’s talk lasted up to 12:30 and everyone stayed to the end. One reason was that loot bag distribution was at the end. Each bag contained a box of Minute Maid orange juice tetra packs and four kinds of biscuits. The Minute Maid juice pack, Tita biscuits, and the bag itself was courtesy of Irene Robles while the specially-baked cookies were from Nina Intengan. As expected, the seniors happily lined up for them, with big smiles on their faces.
