ZAMBALES’S ‘LOLA QUEEN’ BATS FOR MORE WELFARE PROJECTS FOR THE ELDERLY January 19, 2014 via Business Mirror This article originally published @ businessmirror.ph/index.php/en/lifestyle/elderly/26158-zambales-s-lola-queen-bats-for-more-welfare-projects-for-the-elderly At 73 years old, retired District Supervisor Lea Almazan Mayormita could have retired from active community life, lived the life of a pensionada, or followed her husband to the United States for a well-deserved vacation. But this mother of five and grandmother of four, who won the search for Central Luzon’s “Lola Queen” last October, wouldn’t accept a sedentary life, opting instead to devote her time to the Zambales Federation of Senior Citizens Associations, of which she is president. “We need a new social pension scheme, and I really hope that we can have quarterly medical and dental checkup,” she said last week during an interview at the federation’s office. “See that building under construction at the back? We’re supposed to be sharing it with the BHW [Barangay Health Workers], but do you think we could add a small wing and turn it into some kind of a Home for the Aged?” she asked. For Zambales’s “Lola Queen,” form and function must come together. The position must be used to do something productive and positive for the community. This has been the lifelong principle for Lola Lea, who got her BS Education degree in 1960 from the Philippine Normal College. Teaching was one way of serving the public, and a noble one, too. So after retiring from academe as district supervisor in Iba at age 65, she founded her own school—the Kids World Learning Center—to continue educating children. After retirement, she also became active in community groups, becoming president of the local Rotary Club from 1993 to 1995, and heading the Catholic Women’s League for six years. Then after election as president of the senior-citizens group in her barangay in 2005, she never looked back: She got re-elected at the barangay level after two years, then elected president in the municipal level for two terms, before becoming provincial federation president in November last year. With all her five children having their own family, and husband Pablito still working with an oil company in San Francisco, the federation and its more than 20,000 members became an extended family to Lola Lea. She reports for work at the federation office in Barangay Palanginan here every day. “We have monthly meetings every second Wednesday of the month; we visit new members, and undertake projects that would make senior citizens active and productive,” she said. The federation also answered the call for relief for the victims of Supertyphoon Yolanda, and collected used clothing which they shipped out to Tacloban. One of her pet projects is the barangay garden contest, which she started in Iba town and is now being promoted in the whole province. “The prize money is nothing—it’s just P1,000 for the first place. But what’s important is the bonding, the working together, the common effort. And besides, the vegetables they grow are good for their health,” said Lola Lea, who believes that saluyot and okra keep old bones from creaking. But what she strongly wants to see in her lifetime is the establishment of a home for homeless elderly in Zambales. “This is what I’m now urging Gov. [Hermogenes] Ebdane [Jr.] to initiate,” she said, pointing out the growing number of the elderly living in the streets. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s just an annex to the federation building, or a separate building, which is better. What’s important is that we get a building to house the homeless seniors. They need a home environment, especially now that they are old. They need medical attention; they need a place where they can be happy,” Lola Lea said. (Henry Empeño)
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 01:47:23 +0000
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