By Junex Doronio

MANILA — Taking notice of reports that some senior citizens (SCs) and persons with disabilities (PWDs) have been abused, Davao City Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte has introduced a measure defining and penalizing abuse, exploitation, and neglect of vulnerable elderly persons and persons with disabilities.

If his bill is passed into law, any person found guilty of committing the said act or acts of abuse on SCs and PWDs shall be punished by one to five years imprisonment and a fine ranging from P10,000 to P100,000.

“In the country, the senior citizens and persons with disabilities remain to be the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in several facets of society notwithstanding the initiatives being taken by the state to provide them adequate and comprehensive support programs,” the young lawmaker from Davao City said in the bill.

Based on recent surveys, Cong Pulong emerged as a strong senatorial contender in 2025.

He and  Benguet Rep. Eric Yap have jointly filed the proposed Care for Elderly and the Disabled Act (House Bill 9423).

 “The measure seeks to ensure that the country’s senior citizens and persons with disabilities are accorded protection from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation, and coercion, especially acts detrimental to their personal safety and security,” the solons further said.

Under the measure it will be unlawful to:

– obtain control over money, assets, or property of the elderly through undue influence or deceitful machinations with the intention to deprive the elderly of its ownership, use, or benefit;

– deliberately cause mental or emotional distress through verbal or physical abuse, intimidation, harassment, public humiliation, and pillory which debases, degrades, or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of the vulnerable elderly or person with a disability

– fails to perform acts which he or she knows or reasonably should know that are necessary to maintain or preserve with disability and such failure causes said person’s life to be endangered, injured, or his or her pre-existing physical or mental condition to deteriorate

– other analogous circumstances that threaten or endanger the life and health of the vulnerable elderly or person with a disability.

Earlier, Cong Pulong filed a bill that will pour P5 billion in funds into local farmers who will provide free nutritious meals for children attending public schools and daycare centers.

(ai/mnm)

By Junex Doronio

STRESSING THAT PUBLIC SERVANTS shouldn’t be onion-skinned, Davao City Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte on Wednesday came to the defense of his father, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte who ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro sued for an alleged grave threat.

The younger Duterte said that his father FPRRD has received “much harsher and humiliating criticisms in the past but never filed a case against anyone.”

“We all have the right to file a complaint against anyone in court. But public servants should not be onion-skinned and should not make use of this right as a tool to silence critics,” the younger Duterte pointed out.

He made the statement after Castro filed a grave threat complaint against the former President before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.

“As public servants, we all are under scrutiny by the Filipino people. If the former President has said something that threatened her, then maybe she should come out clean,” Rep. Duterte added.

He also ribbed Castro for being “left-leaning”.

“’Di yung nagtatago tayo sa likod ng so-called ‘right’ na ito. As a Congressman myself, madami din akong alam sa maka-kaliwang mga Party-list Representatives. Tigilan na lang natin ang ka-dramahan at pagpapa-media,” Pulong quipped.

Castro apparently caught the ire of FPRRD when she questioned the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on its P125 million confidential funds that were only spent in 11 days in 2022.

Last October 10, FPRRD defended his daughter and Pulong’s sister, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, over the use of confidential funds in both the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd).

He justified that the CIF would be used for the creation of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program.

“Pero ang unang target sa intelligence fund mo, kayo! Ikaw France, kayong mga komunista ang gusto kong patayin. Sabihin mo na sa kanya,” the elder Duterte said, referring to the ACT Teachers party-list lawmaker.

(ai/mnm)