The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) joins the international community and the Filipino nation in observing the International Day of Older Persons on 1 October 2026, under this year’s theme, “The Age of Longevity: Rethinking Systems for Longer Lives.” In the Philippines, the observance also coincides with the Elderly Filipino Week, celebrated from 1 to 7 October under the theme, “Nakatatandang Pilipino: May Halaga at Karapatan, May Boses at Ambag sa Bayan.”
Living longer should mean more years to live with dignity, make informed choices, participate in society, and pursue opportunities. As the country’s National Human Rights Institution, the CHR affirms that rethinking and reshaping these policies, institutions, and conditions must begin with the recognition of older persons as full rights-holders.
According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), increasing longevity has implications across different interconnected areas, including health systems, labor markets, social protection, education, housing, and public finances. Longer lives can yield a “longevity dividend” when they are accompanied by good health, productive opportunities, and meaningful participation in society. However, increase in life expectancy do not necessarily translate into longer periods of healthy and independent living. Hence, when healthy life expectancy does not keep pace, older persons may spend more years experiencing poor health, which can affect their functional capacity, well-being, autonomy, and ability to participate fully in society. [1]
This principle is particularly relevant as the international community works towards a legally binding international instrument on the human rights of older persons. In April 2026, the CHR, together with the National Commission of Senior Citizens, convened a national consultation on the proposed instrument and the protections it should provide. The consultation brought together government agencies, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders to discuss the rights, needs, and lived experiences of older persons that should inform the standards being developed.
The CHR has likewise contributed to the discussions at the United Nations through Commissioner Beda A. Epres, Focal Commissioner for the Rights of Older Persons, in the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the Human Rights of Older Persons in Geneva. During its first organisational meeting in February 2026, Commissioner Epres called for the development of an instrument that gives older persons and national human rights institutions a meaningful role in shaping its provisions and ensuring their implementation.
Furthermore, at the Working Group’s first session in July 2026, Commissioner Epres emphasised the importance of clear and effective mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of the proposed instrument. In discussions on treaty monitoring, he proposed periodic State reporting, community-based monitoring, recognition of citizen-generated data, meaningful participation of national human rights institutions, and an individual complaints procedure or grievance mechanism to help ensure accountability for the rights of older persons.
This rights-based approach is also reflected in the 2026 International Day of Older Persons Communications Toolkit launched by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) through its Older Persons Unit. The toolkit introduces the new multi-year #OldEnoughTo campaign, which draws attention to age-based assumptions embedded in employment, healthcare, financial services, digital access, and other areas of life. It challenges the notion that age should determine what older persons can do, decide, or access, and affirms their right to make choices about their own lives.
As we commemorate the International Day of Older Persons and Elderly Filipino Week, we are reminded that progress cannot be measured by longer life expectancy alone. We must also ask whether the systems around older persons are keeping pace with their rights, needs, and changing circumstances.
The Commission therefore reaffirms its commitment to advancing a human rights-based approach to ageing. As societies experience greater longevity, our laws, policies, and institutions must evolve with them, moving beyond merely accommodating older persons towards enabling their full and meaningful participation in society. Longer lives must also be lives lived with dignity, autonomy, equality, and choice, with older persons themselves helping shape the systems intended to serve and protect them.
Source:
[1] United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), International Day of Older Persons 2026: Concept Note (July 2026), https://social.desa.un.org/sites/default/files/2026-09/Final-UNIDOP2026-ConceptNote.pdf