When journalist Lolly Rivera Acosta invited me to guest on her daily radio show “Sulong na, Bayan” over dwIZ, I quickly said yes.
I was ready to talk about senior citizens in show biz precisely because I am one of them. I marked the milestone in 2014, in time for my presidency of the Lopez Provincial High School Class of 1971 in Lopez, Quezon.
It was a timely discussion, although issues concerning the elderly in any field are and should be regular stuff to learn from—not only their rights and privileges but also how they cope with their situation in society, including ageism and problems with their health and well-being.
In show biz alone, how many movie, TV, music, stage and multimedia personalities suffer from the ageist attitude of the market?
A consumerist society such as ours puts much premium on youth, and movies and TV dramas are starred in or hyped for young people as if the audiences were composed only of teenagers.
In terms of commercial success, the public is dictated on by the likes of Kathryn Bernardo or Daniel Padilla or Alden Richards, the relatively young Marian Rivera, Piolo Pascual or Angel Locsin or Dingdong Dantes, and the divas or divos in their prime, Aicelle Santos or David Ezra or Gab Pangilinan, as flagships of a top-rating show, a moneymaker movie, and a hit theater play.
History speaks for itself. Young people dominate the media scenes in the Philippines; they are proclaimed by their makers and handlers as the faces of success. Long ago, the young Carmen Rosales, Rogelio de la Rosa, Gloria Romero, Juancho Gutierrez, Susan Roces, Romeo Vasquez, Nora Aunor, Tirso Cruz III, Sharon Cuneta, Gabby Concepcion, to name only a few, were the toast of profit-oriented filmmaking.
Seldom is heard about the veterans. Hardly anyone is given their due as earners of the audiovisual medium.
Yet without the oldtimers billed below the title, a film, TV, or theater project wouldn’t be complete, or a hit. A project that features seasoned actors clicks occasionally, is considered a mild success, but it’s mostly attributed to good storytelling, not the performers.
According to a talent coordinator of a major network, these days senior actors have limited employment opportunities, whether contractual or on per-project basis. It was also like that during the Covid-19 pandemic, when senior actors were mostly sidelined by the deadly and contagious disease.
Then as now, scripts were revised to suit a majority of young people in the story lines.
It’s good if actors past 60 are well-to-do or have savings and a pension to depend on. But what if they’re living hand to mouth? (And there are many even if they don’t present as such and continue to live delusionally.)
Movie reporters, too
The same holds true for those in the movie reporting beat. If you think entertainment writing is lucrative, think again.
Please stop harboring illusions that movie journalists earn big just because you see Boy Abunda flashy in his fashionable clothes or comfy in his palatial house on TV, or Ogie Diaz (who’s not a senior citizen yet) driving a car, or Aster Amoyo lunching with and interviewing stars in fancy restaurants.
Look beyond the harsh realities about entertainment reporters and figure out their economic status. Not that we—I’m no exception—are no sucker to the system of “tokens of appreciation” or the blunter “doleout.” The issue is the rightful salary we deserve.
In my interaction with Lolly and her co-host, Rep. Rodolfo “Ompong” Ordanes of the Senior Citizens party-list, I mentioned the case of veteran entertainment reporter Alice Vergara. Now 86 years old, Alice started her career in the 1960s, writing about Amalia Fuentes, Fernando Poe Jr. and other celebrities at the height of their popularity. She has no government pension, no savings to speak of, no security benefits.
Labor laws also govern the likes of Alice, who has always been self-employed.
Alice still hangs around, gatecrashes show biz events (that reduces her to an inconsequential member of the movie press), and stays even after everyone has left.
Yet she has paid taxes all these years, as income taxes and as deducted from the contributor’s fees she collected for her reports. Granting for the sake of argument that she hasn’t been the ideal citizen, but she is a person worthy of dignity especially in her octogenarian years.
To survive, Alice receives doles from colleagues. Her mere appearance elicits compassion.
Can she still work despite her age? If she can still file reports, the better, but she laments that her work is no longer being accepted for publication.
Elderly employment
Ordanes said that if Alice still wants to work, but on a different track, there is an “elderly employment” measure recently passed on third and final reading by the House of Representatives.
House Bill No. 10985, of which Ordanes is among the sponsors, received 173 affirmative votes during the plenary session in November. It lists “clerical or secretarial work, consultancy, cleaning or janitorial services, event organizing, teaching, kitchen help, sales assistance, BPOs and other jobs or volunteer work” as possible jobs for the elderly.
“Mabagal lang ang ating Senado sa pag-apruba (The Senate is just slow in approving the bill),” Ordanes said.
He cited another proposed bill involving free maintenance medication, vaccination, medical assistance, etc. that he said would benefit Alice and other senior citizens in and outside show biz.
But there are also socio-civic groups in show biz that support the likes of Alice Vergara, however supplementary, such as the Movie Workers Welfare Foundation, or Mowelfund, as long as one is a member.
Like asking for the moon
Years back, in his capacity as a filmmaker, Filipino British director Jowee Morel gathered movie columnists Art Tapalla, Danny Vibas, Jo Dino, Dave Rojo and myself into a group that could facilitate the building of a home care institution for aging gays as well as retired entertainment writers.
As a liaison officer, I found out that it wasn’t an easy endeavor to form a foundation, or even an association. Logistics was something to consider. Drawing up a comprehensive flowchart wasn’t an easy task. Seeking moral and financial support from politicians and socio-civic leaders was like asking for the moon.
In a conversation, the actor Azenith Briones said she had been suggesting to Senators Bong Revilla, Lito Lapid, Jinggoy Estrada, and Robin Padilla the provision of sustainable projects that would help Alice and others earn their keep.
“There are many senators who are from show biz. Why can’t they appropriate big money for the benefit of senior citizens in show biz?” she said, speaking in Filipino.
Ordanes observed: “They have large funds. Our budget is smaller than theirs.”
There are many Alice Vergaras in our midst, in various degrees and forms. They need as much help as they can get.
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