Senior citizens to move to new homes in Tanay

MANILA, Philippines - In a few months, hundreds of senior citizens will move to their sprawling new homes in Tanay, Rizal, away from the noise and pollution of Metro Manila.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development will soon transfer some 235 Filipino elderly from the Golden Acres in Quezon City to the Haven for the Elderly, located in Barangay Sampaloc, Tanay, Rizal.

Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral said the new facility will provide the older persons an environment that is quiet with abundance of fresh air and where they can move around freely.

Engr. Joshua Baltazar of the DSWD said the facility is now 90 percent complete.

He said when fully built, this can accommodate more than 400 residents.

With a budget of P110 million, the new facility, located inside a clean and hilly sprawling 10-hectare lot, is comprised of 15 cottages with each unit accommodating 30 persons.

Baltazar said five units will be allotted for the able-bodied elderly while four units are for the weak elderly.

A unit will also house the center’s staff.  – Helen Flores