The Senate has approved on third and final reading a bill establishing the Philippine Geriatric Center, a specialty hospital dedicated to senior citizens, in a unanimous 23-0 vote on February 3.
Risa Hontiveros, author of the measure, said the approval brings the country closer to expanding accessible and quality healthcare services for the aging population.
The measure, Senate Bill No. 1509, seeks to create a tertiary hospital under the Department of Health that will provide preventive, curative, rehabilitative, and age-appropriate care for elderly Filipinos.
A counterpart bill had already been approved by the House of Representatives in December 2025, and the proposal is listed as a priority by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council and included in the Department of Health’s legislative agenda.
To prevent the project from becoming a “white elephant,” the Senate-approved version requires the Philippine Geriatric Center to be constructed, fully equipped, and operational within five to seven years.
Amendments introduced by Hontiveros and co-authors Robin Padilla, Pia Cayetano, and Bong Go emphasize prioritizing indigent and vulnerable senior citizens, integrating social welfare and protection programs, ensuring age-friendly facilities, and mandating that the hospital be headed by a licensed physician with experience in geriatric care.
Hontiveros said the amendments ensure services remain aligned with the country’s universal healthcare framework.
The bill now moves to the next legislative steps before it can be enacted into law. Its passage comes as part of broader efforts to strengthen specialty healthcare services, with the Department of Health allocating an additional P1 billion each to four government specialty hospitals, the Lung Center of the Philippines, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, and Philippine Heart Center, under the 2026 national budget to support the Zero Balance Billing program for indigent patients.
If enacted, the Philippine Geriatric Center would become the country’s first hospital solely dedicated to geriatric care, aiming to address the growing healthcare demands of the senior population.
