Cavite’s Lola Bebang Garcia: Is she the oldest living Filipino?

CAVITE, Philippines – Genoveva Ferma Garcia of Mendez Nuñez town in Cavite celebrated her 110th birthday last January 3, making the supercentenarian possibly the oldest living Filipino at present. 

An unofficial gerontology page, which lists the oldest living persons in the Philippines since 1957, says Garcia — or Lola Bebang — now holds the record. 

Lola Bebang, who finished Grade 4, was a seamstress in her younger years, and maintained a vegetable garden with her husband Sixto Garcia, a former waiter at the historic Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay City.

The couple was blessed with nine children, with two of them having gone before the parents, plus nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. 

For more than a century, Lola Bebang barely caught any serious illness, her children said. She was never taken to the hospital, and her only illnesses were cough and flu. 

There’s a neighborhood myth that she carries amulets, but her children said it’s faith that keeps her going. She still prays in Latin. 

A healthy diet has helped too. Her children said Lola Bebang favorite is bulanglang, a vegetable stew popular in the Southern Tagalog region, usually paired with ripe mango for dessert.  

As of Monday, January 12, Lola Bebang was set to receive a P10,000 incentive from the local government. Mendez social welfare officer Sherry Ann Sanio said Lola Bebang has been receiving P10,000 since after she became a centenarian in 2016. When she turned 100 then, she received P100,000 from the national government and P50,000 from the provincial government of Cavite. 

The Centenarians Act (Republic Act 10868) and the Expanded Centenarians Act (RA 11982) provide for the P100,000 incentive for senior citizens who reach 100 years.

According to a report by the Philippine News Agency, the Philippines has more than 1,000 centenarians as of February 2025. Some of them are supercentenarians or those who have reached more than 100 years old, specifically reaching 110 years old.

The report also said there are more female centenarians than males, the former accounting for 75-80% of the total. There is a high concentration of centenarians in Metro Manila, Cebu, Mindanao, and the Ilocos Region, it said. – Rappler.com