“I can no longer afford to take my medication for heart enlargement twice-a-day. Now, I only intake one capsule per day. It’s better than totally nothing at all”
Maria in her small store waiting for customers.
Ma. Teresita C. Causo is a 72-year-old who owns a small sari-sari store in the Province of Pampanga. She sells gasoline and some food items
In some rural areas like where Maria lives, used bottles of one-liter soft drinks are filled with gasoline and neatly displayed in wooden racks near the road, where motorists and passersby can easily notice.
Every day, she opens the store for the hope of earning a living as she needs money for three different kinds of medicines for the enlargement of her heart and high blood pressure. But with the COVID-19, she’s always disheartened as customers are very rare and there are even days when she earns nothing even a single peso.
“Sometimes, I sold six bottles of gasoline which means I have a net income of P30.00 (USD0.59). How can I support my medication with this meager amount?”
For her maintenance medicines alone, Maria needs P750 (USD14.8)/ month. Her husband who is 75 years old also needs at least P1000 (USD19.6)/month for his medications, aside from the budget needed for milk and vitamins. But for Maria, she can stand taking no milk and vitamins as long as she has her maintenance medicines.
“Without the financial support of our daughter working overseas, how can my husband and I finance our daily needs and maintenance medicines?”
Maria is living with her husband and a son. All her six children already have their own families. “My husband and I cannot and should not rely on our children’s financial support at all times. They are also affected by this pandemic. And, it’s different when you have money of your own.”
It’s a good thing, she shared, that the Pastor of their church provides assistance such as food packs and so is the Local Government Unit. Although not enough, Maria said that the assistance really helps them especially at times of crisis like this where economic and financial activities are very limited.
However, Tatang, as Maria calls her husband, is planting vegetables such as eggplant and tomatoes on his farm just behind their home even with COVID-19. “His meager income from planting and selling vegetables help us with our everyday needs. I am thankful because God gave me a hardworking and kind husband, and of course for continuously keeping us safe from the coronavirus”.
Meanwhile, Maria is a social pension beneficiary. Usually, she spends her P500 or USD9.8/month social pension for medicines and vitamins. But since November 2019, she and fellow social pensioners in their town have not received their benefit yet.
“I just hope that the government will soon distribute our social pension for the first semester of 2020. Actually, I’ve been planning to use my P3,000 social pension in paying for my SSS premium contribution, and in buying medicines and vitamins”.
Yes, Maria is still paying for SSS premium contributions. She started paying voluntarily in 1998 when she began working overseas. But it was temporarily stopped when she got home in 2006.
“Although I am not certain if I can complete the 120 required months or I will still be around when my SSS pension comes, but I still want to try. Last year, I had extra money so I approached one of the SSS personnel if I can pay for my remaining months but they said I can’t. So I still need to pay and wait for 13 more months”.
For now, Maria hopes that this crisis is over soon so that “all of us can start a new life”. I miss going out and chatting with my siblings and friends. I also miss the knocking of customers at the window of my small store. And, of course, I miss earning a living”.
By Rochelle S. Agualin