Republic of the Philippines |, _
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 2.
Constitution Hills, Quezon City NG

SIXTEENTH (16'") CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. _2379

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE ERIC L. OLIVAREZ

EXPLANATORY NOTE

High regard for the elderly has always been a significant mark
of the Philippines vis-a-vis other nations. We are known for treating
our senior citizens as important members of the society, and never
a burden to it. In fact, even our pre-colonial history tells us that our
elders are often consulted for their wisdom and experience on
important matters or issues regarding politics, the law, traditions
and customs, and culture among others.

However, it is also undeniable that the elders, as they reach
the peak of old age, also become more vulnerable to health and
safety risks and inevitably become less able to sustain themselves
physically and financially. This is when the family and the State
play a vital role in ensuring that our senior citizens are provided a
decent living notwithstanding the natural changes that they have to
undergo.


Article XII, Section 11 of The 1987 Constitution guarantees the
protection and promotion of the welfare of our elders, especially
those who are underprivileged and indigent, by providing that “rhe
State shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to
health development which shall endeavor to make essential goods,
health and other social services available to all the people at
affordable cost. There shall be priority for the needs of the under-
privileged, sick, elderly, disabled, women, and children. The State
shall endeavor to provide free medical care to paupers.”

Moreover, Article XV Section 4 thereof mandates that “the
family has the duty to care for its elderly members but the State may
also do so through just programs of social security.”

In keeping with the purpose of these constitutional provisions,
this bill aims to provide for the physical, social and emotional needs
of the senior citizen who needs assistance in a loving, caring,
dignified environment through the establishment and operation of
Home for the Aged in every city or municipality, in such case where
the immediate family could not adequately support him/her or if
given the circumstances, the senior citizen is deemed better off to
be in the custody of the institution rather than otherwise.

Due to the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly
sought.

eran
ERIC L. OLIVAREZ


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

SIXTEENTH (16) CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 2379

eT
Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE ERIC L. OLIVAREZ
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“AN ACT ESTABLISHING AT LEAST ONE HOME FOR
THE AGED IN EVERY CITY”

SECTION 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known as the
“Home for the Aged Act of 2013”

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. It shall be the policy of
the State to ensure that our senior citizens are provided adequate
government-facilitated homes in every city to ensure that their best
interest and welfare are maintained and promoted.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. The following terms as
used in this Act shall be taken to mean, as follows:

Elders - any resident citizen of the
Philippines at least sixty (60) years old;


Home - a home for the aged established
and maintained under this Act by a city or a
municipality.

Joint Home - a home for the aged
established and maintained under this Act by
a group of cities or municipalities, each of
which either having insufficient income to
maintain its own Home for the Aged, and/or
having relatively small population so as to
make it impractical to establish and operate
one home for the aged exclusively for its
disproportionately few constituents only.

Indigent senior citizen any elderly who
is frail, sickly or with disability, and without
pension or permanent source of income,
compensation or financial assistance from
his/her relatives to support his/her basic
needs, as determined by the Department of
Social Welfare and development (DSWD) in
consultation with the National Coordinating
and Monitoring Board.

Residents - elders or senior citizens
officially admitted to the Home for the Aged
established and maintained under this Act.

Record - includes a book of account,
bank book, voucher, invoice, receipt, contract,
payrolls, record of staff hours worked, record
of personal health information or every
resident, correspondence and any other
document, regardless of whether the record is
paper-based or otherwise.


SECTION 4. One Home For The Aged in Every City. Every
city or municipality in the Philippines is hereby mandated to
establish at least one Home for the Aged to cater to its respective
constituents.

SECTION 5. Joint Homes. Instead of establishing separate
homes, two or more municipalities or small cities described in
Section 4, each of which either having insufficient income to
maintain its own Home for the Aged, and/or having relatively small
population so as to make it impractical to establish and operate one
home for the aged exclusively for its disproportionately few
constituents only, with the approval in writing of the Department of
Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), may enter into an
agreement to establish and maintain a joint home for the aged.

SECTION 6. Administration Committee. The City or
Municipality Mayors shall appoint from among the members of the
sanggunian or sanggunians, as the case may be, an administration
committee for the home or joint home. This shall be subject to the
final approval of the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD).

SECTION 7. Composition of the Administration
Committee. The composition of the administration committee and
the qualifications and term of office of the members thereof shall be
prescribed by the DSWD.

Site Requirements

SECTION 8. Ocular inspection and Site Visit. Before
selecting or acquiring a site where the home or joint home shall be


erected, the sanggunian of the city or the municipality shall conduct
an ocular inspection of the site to determine whether it will best
serve the programs of the home and the best interests of the
potential residents thereof and shall conduct a survey of the
community and review of population requirements in accordance
with the rules and regulations to be prescribed by the DSWD.

SECTION 9. Site and Plans to be Approved by the DSWD.
A building shall not be acquired or erected for use as a home or
joint home until the site is selected and evaluated in accordance
with the regulations prescribed by the DSWD and the plans therefor
are approved by the same.

Utilities

SECTION 10. Water system. The sanggunian of a city or
pality running a home, or the sanggunians cities or the
municipalities running a joint home may enter into an agreement
with any municipality or person, natural or juridical, owning or
operating a waterworks system for the supply of water for the home
or joint home.

SECTION 11. Sewerage System. The sanggunian of a city of
municipality running a home, or the sanggunians of the cities or
municipalities running a joint home may enter into an agreement
with a private entity (i. corporation) or with any city or
municipality for connecting the home or joint home with the
sewerage system of such city or municipality.

SECTION 12. Electricity. The sanggunian of a city or
municipality running a home, or the sanggunians of the cities or


municipalities running a joint home home may enter into an
agreement with any person for the supply of electricity for light,
heat or power purposes at the home or joint home.

SECTION 13. Eminent Domain. For the purpose of
connecting such home or joint home with any such system or works
as provided from the last three preceding sections, any private
lands, properties, highways and/or roads may be acquired by the
local government unit concerned for the purpose of constructing the
sewers, laying down pipes, installing poles or wires and doing all
work necessary to the functional operation of the home or joint
homes, provided that due compensation shall be made to the
owners thereof.

SECTION 14. Facilities for Recreational Activites. The
sanggunian of a city or municipality running a home, or the
sanggunians of the cities or municipalities running a joint home
shall provide equipment and facilities for recreational purposes and
for other similar activities (ie. simple exercise equipment,
handicrafts, etc) that will improve and contribute to the physical,
emotional and mental well-being of the residents therein.

Staffing

SECTION 15. General Administrator. The sanggunian of
the city or of the municipality or the sanggunians of the cities or
municipalities that operate/s a home or a joint home, as the case
may be, shall appoint a general administrator for the home or joint
home.


SECTION 16. Temporary appointment of the General
Administrator. The sangguinan of a city or a municipality that
establishes and runs a home or the sanggunians of the cities or
municipalities that establish and operate a joint home, as the case
may be, may appoint a person to act temporarily as general
administrator of the home or joint home for a period not exceeding
six months to be reckoned from the time that the home or joint
home becomes fully operational.

SECTION 17. Appointment of Staff. The Administration
Committee of a home or a joint home shall appoint such staff as the
DSWD will prescribe for the processing of papers and records of the
applicants for residency, and for the proper care and well-being of
the residents.

SECTION 18. Resident Physician. The Administration
Committee of a home or a joint home shall appoint a legally
qualified medical practitioner as the resident physician for the
home or joint home, and who shall be responsible for the medical,
paramedical and nursing care and services provided to the
residents thereof.

SECTION 19. Other Employees. The Administration
Committee of a home or joint home shall hire all other staff and
employees whose duties are deemed necessary and desirable to the
operation and maintenance of the home or joint home.

Applicants and Residents

SECTION 20. Eligibility for Residency. It shall be the duty
of the DSWD to prescribe guidelines and qualification for eligibility
of the prospective residents of a home or joint homes.


SECTION 21. Admission of Applicants. A placement officer
hired or appointed by the Administration Committee as an the
official employee thereof, shall determine whether an applicant is
eligible for admission to a home or joint home in accordance with
the rules and regulations prescribed by the DSWD as described in
the preceding section.

SECTION 22. Non-admission of Applicants. In a case where
the placement officer determines or assess an applicant to be
ineligible to be a resident of the home or joint home, the said
placement officer shall ensure that the applicant and/or the person,
if any, who applied for the determination on behalf of the applicant,
are notified of,

(1) the determination of ineligibility;

(2) the specific grounds relied upon by the
placement officer; and

(3) the applicant’s right to appeal to the DSWD
for a review of the determination.

SECTION 23. No Charge Permitted. It shall be unlawful for
any city, municipality, Administration Committee, its officers or
employees, or any other person to demand or accept admission fees
and any other payment from or on behalf of a resident of the home
or joint home, as the case may be.

SECTION 24. Superior Management Standard. A city or
municipality running a home, or the cities or municipalities
running a joint home and the Administration Committee thereof


shall ensure that a superior management system is constantly
developed and implemented for monitoring, evaluating and
improving the standards of accommodation, care, services,
programs, facilities and goods provided to the residents of the home
or joint home, as the case may be.

INSPECTION

SECTION 25. Random Inspection of Homes. The director of
the DSWD or any officer thereof authorized or delegated by the
former may at all reasonable times enter and inspect a home even
without prior notice to the Administration Committee and inspect
the records of the same for the purpose of determining whether
there is compliance with this Act and the rules and regulations as
prescribed by the DSWD. Provided however, that the officers who
are to conduct said random inspection is equipped with a written
proof of authorization coming from the Director.

If the Director and/or the officers conducting the random
inspection have reasonable grounds to believe that records or other
things pertaining to a home are kept in a place that is not in the
home, he/she may enter the place at all reasonable times in order
to inspect such records and other things. However, no inspector
shall enter a place that is being used as a dwelling, without the
consent of the owner or occupant of said place.

SECTION 26. Powers of the Director and/or Officers
Conducting Inspection. A Director or any officer authorized by
him to conduct an inspection shall have the following powers, to
wit:

(a) he/she may inspect the premises of the
home or the joint home;


(b) he/she may inspect the operations on the
premises of the home or joint home;

(c) he/she may demand the production of
records or other things relevant to the
inspection

(d) he/she may interview a person, including
any employee, volunteers and residents on
matters relevant to the inspection.

(e) he/she may conduct such examinations or
tests as are reasonably necessary.

(f) he/she may do all other acts incidental and
necessary to the random inspection and
evaluation of the home or joint homes.

SECTION 27. Obstruction or Delaying Unlawful. It shall be
unlawful for any person to deliberately obstruct or interfere with an
inspector conducting an inspection under this section or otherwise
hamper or delay an inspector in carrying out his or her duties
under this Act.

Any person guilty of the above-described unlawful acts shall
suffer an imprisonment of no more than thirty (30) days or pay a
fine of Ten Thousand Pesos (P10,000.00) or both at the discretion of
the court taking into consideration the degree of the obstruction,
interference or delay.

SECTION 28. Inspection Report. After conducting an
inspection, the director or any of its officers shall prepare a report
and shall give a copy thereof to each city or municipality, and to the
Administration Committee of the home or joint home so inspected.


Any irregularity or noncompliance with this Act or the rules
and regulations of the DSWD with respect to the operation of a
home and/or joint homes as per the Inspection Report prepared by
the Director or any of the officers who inspected the same shall be
immediately acted upon by the mayor of the city or municipality
under which the home or joint home is being operated, as
supervised by the DSWD.

SECTION 29. Protection from Personal Liability. No
proceeding for damages shall be commenced against an inspector
for any act done in good faith in the performance or intended
performance of his or her duty.

SECTION 30. Information Campaign. The Department of
Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Interior
and Local Government (DILG) and all the Local Government Units
concerned shall conduct an extensive information campaign for the
public to know the existence and location of the Home for the Aged
and the qualifications of the applicants thereto.

SECTION 31. Implementing Rules and Regulations. The
DSWD in coordination with the DILG and Local Government Units
shall promulgate the implementing rules and regulations for the
effective and immediate implementation of this Act.

SECTION 32. Repealing Clause. All laws, decrees, executive
orders, letters of instructions, rules and regulations or parts
thereof, which are inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed,
amended or modified accordingly.

SECTION 33. Separability Clause. If any provision of this
Act is judicially declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining
provisions of this Act not affected thereby shall be continue to be in
full force and effect.


SECTION 34. Effectivity Clause. This act shall take effect
fifteen (15) days following its publication in two (2) newspapers of
general circulation.

Approved,