Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III on Sunday urged the Senate to prioritize the passage of the bill that seeks to establish a specialty hospital for senior citizens.

Senate Bill 979 or the Senior Citizens' Hospital Act, which Pimentel filed in August 2022, has been pending at the Senate along with seven other bills that also proposed the establishment and institutionalization of geriatric health care and research.

"These pending bills only show that a lot of our colleagues also give urgency to the matter. That's why we are appealing that we should prioritize this today," he said in a statement.

“Just as there are specialty hospitals for pediatric and obstetric, we believe that the elderly should also have preferential care and assistance from the government," Pimentel added.

In SB 979, Pimentel cited a study from the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PDIS) that showed that the country is deemed to become an “aging society” by 2032.

“This means that by 2032, Filipinos aged 65 years old and older will make up 7% of our country’s total population. In 2069, this figure will go up to 14%, making the Philippines an “aged society”, he said.

For this reason, the Senator proposed the government to build Philippine Geriatric Medical Center (PGMC) or Senior Citizens' Hospital, which will cater to 200 beds, in Northern Mindanao, particularly in Cagayan de Oro City or Misamis Oriental Province.

Seven board of trustees members, who will be appointed by the President, will administer the PGMC.

Once the act has been approved, Pimentel designated the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DWSD), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to carry out the implementing rules of the measure.

"We laud all the past measures we were able to implement for the senior citizens including medicine and transportation discounts, but I believe that this law will help our elderly live a better, more comfortable life," he further said.