"WHEN you grow old, your children would be the ones to look after you and take care of your needs, so you have to raise them as good individuals," said Jovita Tabor, 100 years old, who shared her secret to reaching that age.
She said aside from eating healthy food, the secret to having a long life would be having good children.
Tabor was one of the four awardees during the third annual celebration of the National Elderly Filipino Week led by the Cagayan de Oro City Social Welfare Development (CSWD) and the City Government on Wednesday, October 12.
The other awardees were Eulalia Velez, 102 years old from Barangay 14; Tolentina Tumapan, 100 years old from Barangay Tagpangi; and Francisca Villamil, 100 years old from Barangay 40.
The awardees were given plaques of recognition and financial incentives worth P20,000 each.
Aside from awarding the centenarians, the event themed "Pagmamahal at Respeto ng Nakababata, Nagpapaligaya sa Nakatatanda" also had solo singing contests, boogie dance contests, choral singing contests, and raffle draws for the 800 senior citizen participants from the four districts of this city.
"We make it a habit for the past three years to do this, the Senior Citizen Week,to honor the elderly members of our community. I think that activities like these are very important for them because it is one of their chances to socialize in the sunset years of their lives," said Eugenio Atrigenio , head of the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA).
Teodoro Sabuga-a Jr., officer-in-charge of CSWD said aside from the event, the city's senior citizens can expect other programs and projects from the government.
He added as of now, a home for the elderly is planned to be constructed in the near term. This new home is promised to have a much better facility for the elderly and will be finished by next year.
Sabuga-a also said there may be some problems concerning the privileges of some of the elderlies such as their 20 percent discount in their purchases but the office has been fixing these problems already.
CSWD is also planning to provide male and female wards that are only for senior citizens in the hospitals in the city, said Sabugaa.
Victorina Herman, 65 years old, expressed her happiness for the outcome of the event and hopes that another will be held next year.
"Actually, they also did this last year and it is good that they repeated it this year. These events help remind us that the people in the society are still reminded of us old people and that despite of our age, there is still a way for us to have fun," she said.