The Talon 2 Senior Citizens of Las Piñas and the Apo, Sons and Daughters of World War II Veterans Association Inc. of Las Piñas are thankful to Senator Cynthia Villar and Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar for providing them with their new office headquarters complete with a vegetable garden, vermicomposting and waste management facilities.
The new office buildings are in Barangay Talon 2 in Las Piñas “Our elders come from a generation which value simple and sustainable living. They are the first proponents of growing food in our own homes or backyards,” said Villar.
“Besides providing headquarters for their associations, we also want them to be productive. What better way to do that than through farming,” she added.
As the current chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, the senator has been advocating urban farming and other agricultural activities that can be done in people’s backyards to make them more food self-sufficient.
The two associations will share all the urban farming facilities together with barangay residents. She also encourages people to do their share in proper waste management, reason she put up vermicomposting and waste management facilities in the area where the buildings are.
The fertilizers produced from vermicomposting of kitchen and garden wastes can be used in the vegetable gardens also.
“I have always been finding ways to help the elderly. As a legislator, I have pursued bills that will benefit them. We owe senior citizens a huge debt, so helping them during the twilight years of their lives is the least we can do,” said Villar.
As congresswoman from 2001 to 2010, the senator counts as her one of biggest achievements, having authored the two versions of the Senior Citizens Act (2003 and 2010).
During her first term as a senator, among the bills she filed which was passed was the legislation that granted pensioners of the Social Security System P2,000 pesos across-the-board increase in their monthly pension.
The first instalment of P1,000 was distributed in 2017 and the second instalment was supposed to be given in 2019 but was deferred to this year.
She and her husband, former Senate President Manny Villar, have been the chief fundraisers for the Filipino War Veterans Foundation for over two decades since 1999.
“I believe that all of us should ensure that senior citizens can lead dignified, healthy, safe and secure lives during their advanced age. For it is true that any human being, society or nation is judged on the basis of how it treats those who are powerless, helpless, weak, and who have no means to pay back,” Villar said.
