This project by COSE – Enhancing Access to Social Protection Programmes through Older Persons Engagement – integrates the social accountability approach in influencing local government’s policies and spending on social protection in two provinces in Luzon. It runs for two years and works closely with Older Persons Organisations (OPOs) in three target municipalities. The project pilots the creation of Older Citizens Monitoring Committees (OCMC), with accompanying monitoring methodology and tools. COSE is committed to developing bottom-up social accountability mechanisms to improve the quality of Philippines’ social protection programmes through minimising intentional and unintentional errors by staff and claimants. Accountability mechanisms are integrated in the project to address poor ‘customer service’, leakages of public funds and streamline administrative challenges across the target areas.  

  “I’ve been attending COSE training and activities for older persons for so many years already. In 2009, I was just 55 years old then, together with senior citizens from various areas. With the Confederation of Older Persons of the Philippines (COPAP) and COSE, I was one of those who rallied along Mendiola to call for the passage of social pension. I worked as a member of the Lupon in our Barangay, became an Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) staff, and later on was elected as President of the Senior Citizens Association in Barangay San Juan Bano” –  Mario Sunga, Project Participant “Prioritise and ensure the inclusion of all older women and men in the government programs and services –not just in the guidelines but more importantly on the actual implementation. Please don’t make us feel that in this battle, we are  being neglected and alone”. – Luzviminda Venasquez, Project Participant

The above remarks from the participants of the   Enhancing Access to Social Protection Programmes through Older Persons Engagement by COSE shows that Cose was able to achieve its set objectives of this Influencing project. Below are highlights of other achievements realised during the project. Strengthened and Functional Older Persons’ Organisations (OPOs) and Federations A total of 88 Older Persons Organisations’ Leaders were trained in organisational and leadership development. The capacity building activities conducted with the leaders led to the effective management of their organisations and their projects/programs. From March 2018 to July 2019, a total of 45 OPOs have formulated clear Vision-Mission-Goals (VMG) Constitution and By-Laws (CBL), and can perform their own organisational assessment using the “OPO Assessment Tool.” This change is important because the Constitution and By-Laws provide them guidance in managing their organisation. It will also provide OPO’s credibility when applying for legality in their respective Local Government Units and accessing funds. Secured Organisation’s Legal Identity As of February 2020, 2 out of 3 Federations covered by the project (Pambayang Pederasyon ng mga Nakatatandang Mamamayan ng Calumpit, Bulacan & Arayat Senior Citizens Association) have secured a certificate of registration from their respective municipalities. They are well recognised by the Local Government Units (LGUs). This change is important because they are now welcomed to apply for a membership to the Local Development Council as representative of the Civil Society Organisation, which will give them more chance to raise their voices (issues and concerns) and be heard by the legislators once they become a member. Raised Public Awareness on the situation, rights and privileges of Older Persons Accurate information on the rights and privileges of older persons was disseminated that resulted in increased awareness, especially on Social Pension and PhilHealth programs. The dissemination was conducted through community discussions, radio program, and distribution of Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials. Issues and concerns of older persons were also discussed. This facilitated the awareness of the general situation of older persons in the country. Although there was no evaluation conducted, however, the claims on increased public awareness has been mentioned by the OPO leaders themselves and the members of their respective Older Persons Organisations (OPOs) during the Linking and Learning Session and Federations Meeting. Established Accountability Mechanism (OCMC and HelpDesk) Older Citizens Monitoring Committee (OCMC) was established in three (3) municipalities – Calumpit and Hagonoy, Bulacan; and Arayat, Pampanga, as part of the Federation’s structure. The committee monitors the implementation of the social pension and PhilHealth programs and other related complaints. HelpDesk in each municipality was established where they can report complaints. HelpDesk staff will process and respond to the reported complaints. This change is very important because it allows older persons to see and participate in social pension program implementation. They can directly raise their concerns and involve in resolving them. It will not only help older persons but at the same time helping the government to provide a more responsive program for older persons. Installed Database for Older Persons Computer sets were provided to the partner municipalities through the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) where the database was installed. A total of 29,557 older persons (9,486 from Arayat, Pampanga; 9,726 from Calumpit; and 10,345 from Hagonoy, Bulacan) registered to the Senior Citizens Registration and Information System (SCRIS). The said database provides comprehensive information of older persons that can be a basis in developing policies and programs for older persons. The use of consultation or involving the rightsholders groups was the most successful influencing approach used for this project. It provides power to the rightsholders groups (both older persons & LGUs) to effectively engage in the process. Dialogues were also utilised to establish a connection/partnership between the Older Persons’ Organisations and the Local Government Units. This partnership was maximised as an opportunity to discuss and address certain issues/concerns of older persons.

Social Protection for Elderly Persons 

Coalition of Services of the Elderly (COSE), together with its partner Older Persons Organizations (OPOs) were able to achieve the following while staying true to a social accountability approach:  

• Strengthened and Functional Older Persons’ Organizations (OPOs) and Federations: A total of 88 Older Persons Organizations’ Leaders were trained in organizational and leadership development. The capacity building activities conducted with the leaders led to effective management of their organizations as well as their projects/programs. A total of 45 OPOs have formulated clear Vision-Mission-Goals (VMG) Constitution and By-Laws (CBL), and can perform their own organizational assessment using the “OPO Assessment Tool.” This change is important because the Constitution and By-Laws provide them guidance in managing their organization. It will also provide OPO’s credibility when applying for legality in their respective Local Government Units, and when accessing funds. 
  

• Secured Organization’s Legal Identity: As of February 2020, 2 out of 3 Federations covered by the project (Pambayang Pederasyon ng mga Nakatatandang Mamamayan ng Calumpit, Bulacan & Arayat Senior Citizens Association) have secured a certificate of registration from their respective municipalities. They are well recognized by the Local Government Units (LGUs). This change is important because they are now welcome to apply for a membership to the Local Development Council as representative of the Civil Society Organization, which will give them more chance to raise their voices (issues and concerns) and be heard by the legislators once they become a member. 
  

• Raised Public Awareness on the situation, rights and privileges of Older Persons: Accurate information on the rights and privileges of older persons was disseminated that resulted in increased awareness especially on Social Pension and PhilHealth programs. The dissemination was conducted through community discussions, radio program, and distribution of Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials. Issues and concerns of older persons were also discussed, this facilitated the awareness of the general situation of older persons in the country.
  

• Established Accountability Mechanism (OCMC and HelpDesk): Older Citizens Monitoring Committee (OCMC) was established in three (3) municipalities – Calumpit and Hagonoy, Bulacan; and Arayat, Pampanga, as part of the Federation’s structure. The committee monitors the implementation of the social pension and PhilHealth programs and other related complaints. HelpDesk in each municipality was established where they can report complaints. HelpDesk staff will process and respond to the reported complaints.  
  

This change is very important because it allows the older persons to see and participate the process of social pension program implementation. They can directly raise their concerns and involve in resolving them. It will not only help older persons but at the same time helping the government to provide a more responsive program for older persons.   

• Installed Database for Older Persons: Computer sets were provided to the partner municipalities through the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) where the database was installed. A total of 29,557 older persons (9,486 from Arayat, Pampanga; 9,726 from Calumpit; and 10,345 from Hagonoy, Bulacan) registered to the Senior Citizens Registration and Information System (SCRIS). The said database provides comprehensive information of older persons that can be a basis in developing policies and programs for older persons. 
  

The use of consultation or involving the rightsholder groups was the most successful influencing approach used for this project. It provided power to the groups (both older persons & LGUs) to effectively engage in the process. Dialogues were also utilized to establish connection/partnership between the Older Persons’ Organizations and the Local Government Units. This partnership was maximized as an opportunity to discuss and address certain issues/concerns of older persons. 

Although there was no evaluation conducted, the claims on increased public awareness have been mentioned by the Older Persons Organizations (OPOs) leaders themselves and OPO the members of their respective during the Linking and Learning Session and Federations Meeting 

COSE has been expressive of their appreciation of linking and learning and the value it adds to their ways of working.   

“Linking and learning is not just a simple concept but something that should be institutionalized in any organization to ensure that knowledge and learnings are effectively shared and maximized by others. So, repeating the same mistakes will be avoided and more resources will have saved. In addition, current societal problems are complex. Working on it alone might create a significant change but working together makes bigger changes. With regard to this, COSE has not changed its internal policy as it has to take a process, but linking and learning concept is already included in our succeeding project proposals with other donors.”  

– COSE 

True to their commitment to institutionalise linking and learning as a component within their organisation, COSE held their linking and learning event which gathered all OPOs from their Voice project areas. Through this event, the different groups were able to exchange lessons learnt and plan their next steps for sustainability. 

They are also a learning organisation that did not shy away on trying new approaches, such as video-documenting one of their reports: https://app.box.com/file/605860017909 (no subtitles). During the pandemic, it has not been easy especially with higher risks and restrictions for older persons. They were able to share some of their experience through this video feature: https://app.box.com/file/805169976556 

Quotes 

“Sometimes, people were asking me why I am wasting my time and energy working so hard for senior citizens when I am not receiving any monetary incentives. But honestly, I could not think of a better way to spend my senior years than be working with and for older persons” –  Mario Sunga, President, Senior Citizens Association in Barangay San Juan Bano 

COSE wants to continue their advocacy for the social pension and coordinate the activities of the older persons organisations to ensure their sustainability.  

“Prioritize and ensure the inclusion of all older women and men in the government programs and services –not just in the guidelines but more importantly on the actual implementation. Please don’t make us feel that in this battle, we are being neglected and alone”. 

 – Luzviminda Venasquez, Vice President of the Senior Citizens’ Association in Barangay Gatiawin