Esta ley enmienda la Ley Núm. 24 de 27 de abril de 1933 para cambiar el término "vejez" por "personas de edad avanzada" y designar el 30 de abril de cada año como el "Día de Homenaje a las Personas de Edad Avanzada". Establece que la Oficina para Asuntos de la Vejez, el Departamento de Educación, el Departamento de Salud, el Programa de Gerontología de la Escuela Graduada de Salud Pública del Recinto de Ciencias Médicas de la Universidad de Puerto Rico y el Departamento de la Familia, entre otras entidades públicas y municipales, realizarán actividades para cumplir con los propósitos de esta ley.
(Approved September 15, 2004)
To amend the Title and Sections 1 and 2 of Act No. 24 of April 27, 1933, as amended, which establishes the "Day of Homage to Old Age," in order to substitute the term "old age" for "elderly", as well as to designate April 30 of each year for the celebration provided in this Act; to establish that the Office for the Affairs of the Elderly, the Department of Education, the Department of Health, the Gerontology Program of the Public Health Graduate School of the Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico and the Department of the Family, among other public and municipal entities, shall hold activities to comply with the purposes of this Act.
In Spanish the terms anciano, viejo, envejeciente, persona mayor de edad (old man/woman, oldster, old-timer, person advanced in year) among others, have historically been used to refer to any person sixty (60) years old or older. However, legally speaking said terms have been recombined in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as the phrase Persona de Edad Avanzada and translated as "elderly persons" or "the elderly."
Act No. 331 of September 2, 2000 amended Act No. 121 of July 12, 1986, as amended, known as the "Bill of Rights of the Elderly," Act No. 100 of June 20, 1959, as amended, Act No. 94 of June 22, 1977, as amended, known as the "Establishments for the Elderly Act," Act No. 108 of July 12, 1985, as amended, Act No. 171 of June 30, 1968, as amended, Act No. 165
of August 23, 1996, as amended, known as the "Rental Housing Program for Low Income Elderly Persons" and Act No. 68 of July 11, 1988, as amended, known as the "Office for the Affairs of the Elderly Act," in order to make the term "the elderly" uniform, substituting the terms "old person" and "the old."
On the other hand, Act No. 24 of April 27, 1933, declared the third Friday in April as the "Day of Homage to Old Age." Subsequently, Act No. 24, supra, was amended by Act No. 3 of April 24, 1962, which established that the "Day of Homage to Old Age" would be observed on the day of the month of April of each year to be fixed by the Governor of Puerto Rico. However, Joint Resolution No. 22, approved on April 30, 1970, declared April 30 of each year as the "Day of Homage to Old Age." Subsequently, by virtue of Section 12 of Act No. 331 of September 2, 2000, the aforementioned Joint Resolution No. 22 was repealed and the "Bill of Rights of the Elderly" was amended by that same law so as to expressly acknowledge the homage in reference as the "Homage to Old Age."
For the above stated motives, this Legislature believes it meritorious to make legislative efforts to give uniformity to the provisions of all legislation that refers to the elderly.
Section 1.- The Title of Act No. 24 of April 27, 1933, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: "To declare April 30 of each year as the "Day of Homage to the Elderly."
Section 2.- Section 1 of Act No. 24 of April 27, 1933, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Section 1.- April 30 of each year is hereby declared to be the "Day of Homage to the Elderly."
Section 3.- Section 2 of Act No. 24 of April 27, 1933, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: "Section 2.- Not less than ten (10) days prior to April 30 of each year, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall issue an annual proclamation calling the people of Puerto Rico to join in the celebration provided in this Act. A copy of the annual proclamation shall be distributed among the mass communications media of the Island for its divulgation and/or publication.
The Office for the Affairs of the Elderly in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Health, the Gerontology Program of the Public Health Graduate School of the Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico and the Department of the Family, as well as all other public bodies and entities and the municipalities of Puerto Rico, shall adopt the measures needed to achieve the objectives of this Act, by organizing and conducting activities to observe the "Day of Homage to the Elderly."
Section 4.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 310 (S.B. 1362) of the $7^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to amend the Title and Sections 1 and 2 of Act No. 24 of April 27, 1933, as amended, which establishes the "Day of Homage to Old Age," in order to substitute the term "old age" for "elderly", as well as to designate April 30 of each year for the celebration provided in this Act; to establish that the Office for the Affairs of the Elderly, the Department of Education, the Department of Health, the Gerontology Program of the Public Health Graduate School of the Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico, etc., has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $1^{ ext {st }}$ of November of 2005.
Francisco J. Domenech Director