For nearly ten years, Engr. Luis Funtanar, 75, is continuously making an impact on the lives of his fellow senior citizens in Lapu-Lapu City, starting from when he was elected president of his barangay’s senior citizens association to becoming the current head of the city’s Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA).
Before his retirement, Funtanar worked as a public school teacher for 15 years and as a marine engineer for 30 years. Having always valued work and growth, he opted to participate in senior citizen-related activities to keep himself busy and active even after retirement.
“It is truly an honor to serve the senior citizens of Lapu-Lapu City. This role is very different from my prior professions, but I found it very easy to fulfill since I still wanted to do meaningful activities at this age and contribute to the community by assisting my fellow seniors,” he said.
As OSCA head, Funtanar’s primary goal is to ensure that Oponganon senior citizens feel valued and remain active and healthy. Lapu-Lapu City OSCA ensures that it regularly implements activities that are beneficial to its members, such as vaccination programs, mental health check-ups, rest and recreational activities, community organizing trainings, and seminars on senior citizen-related laws.
Recently, Lapu-Lapu City OSCA also partnered with PLDT, Smart, and Passerelles Numériques Philippines (PNPh) to hold a digital literacy and mental health awareness training for the city’s senior citizens.
“As someone who is not particularly tech-savvy, I found the digital literacy training to be extremely beneficial. It is interesting to learn about other smartphone features and how we can protect ourselves from internet scammers. We are motivated to try these new and convenient ways of connecting with our families and friends online,” he added.
Through this initiative, senior citizens were equipped with basic knowledge on smartphone usage and internet safety. PLDT and Smart also promoted mental health awareness among the participants to emphasize the importance of caring for their mental health in today’s digital age.
“I encourage my fellow senior citizens to not let their age hinder them from doing things that keep them going and to continue trying out new things. Exploring digital technology and the internet can be intimidating, yet it is undoubtedly valuable to us. Let us show other fellow seniors that we can still adapt to new technologies today,” said Funtanar.
These efforts to deliver digital literacy and mental health awareness training to senior citizens and other valuable groups are in line with PLDT and Smart’s digital inclusion and digital wellness advocacies.
