By Ethan Benedicto
Being a centenarian is no easy milestone, but moving forward from that is another feat entirely.
Rosalina Manantan turned 101 on 15 January 2024, making her a step closer to being a super-centenarian who is typically aged 110 and over.
This also makes Mrs Manantan one of Victoria’s rough estimates of 1432 people who have hit triple digits, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics December 2018 quarterly population report.
Milagros Manantan Reyes, the eldest daughter at 74 years old said during her mother’s party that she’s “just so thankful to the Lord”.
“Because without any medications, without any maintenance, just vitamins and drinking some red wine, there haven’t been any big health concerns,” Mrs Reyes said.
After sisters and relatives laughed at her banter, Mrs Reyes reiterated that she was confident in her mother’s health.
Nanay Rosa, which translates to mother Rosa, is what the 101-year-old has been fondly referred to, and has only ever had one “not so serious problem”.
“The first time she was here it took us six months to clear a calcification in her lungs, but that was not really serious or anything.
“She’d rest here and then have all these pathology tests and then it was all normal, she didn’t have anything,” Mrs Reyes said.
Mrs Reyes came to Australia in 1987 and decided to bring her mother to her home in Hampton Park a few years later in 1993.
When her husband died in 1990, Mrs Manantan received most of her support from her children, all of who were overseas at that point.
“I was providing for her all the time, so I had to bring her here so I could just look after her.
“Everyone wants their parents to come here, for a better life and that was my purpose,” she said.
Instead of continuously sending her mother money, Mrs Reyes felt that bringing her to Melbourne was a more viable option, where she could provide help in many more ways.
Mrs Manantan was more than a welcome presence in her new home, with Mrs Reyes recalling that she had been a boon to the household chores.
“She was able to help me in so many ways, wash our clothes, ironing, cooking, and at that time she was still 70 so she could do that.
“When I’d come home from work there’d be food and all the washing’s done, she was good help to me as well,” Mrs Reyes said.
From 1998, Mrs Manantan also saw continued support from the Australian Filipino Community Services, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes Filipino migrants’ wellbeing.
The AFCS also advocates for better economic, cultural and political rights in Australia, all of which Mrs Manantan had access to.
In the same year, she also became part of the Young Generation Senior Citizens cub, or YG for short, which saw the communal gathering of elderly Filipinos who engaged in activities and held gatherings.
For Mrs Reyes, who is also getting older, one of the more difficult things to manage was her mother’s dementia.
“I don’t know how many years it’s been now that she’s got dementia, but that’s it really,” she said.
In response, she sponsored her younger sister Elma to help care for their mother in 2019, as arthritis had caught up to her.
“After I retired I felt old, arthritis here and arthritis there, so my sister’s the one looking after her now,” Mrs Reyes said.
Mrs Manantan has resided in Elma’s and her husband John’s residence since 2019, which so happens to be the same venue of celebration for her 100-year birthday in 2023.
Mrs Reyes’s explanation for her mother’s longevity is familial and genetic, quoting two other family members in the United States who have also hit the centennial milestone.
She had a first cousin in LA who died when she was nearly 102.
Another first cousin who Mrs Manantan had grown up with is living in Seattle, Washington, and is 100 years old.
Mrs Manantan had always been a strong believer and a frequent churchgoer, but as her age caught up to her, she had been saying her prayers at home.
Mrs Reyes attributes part of her mother’s healthiness to her strong faith, a quality that has essentially become part of Mrs Manantan herself.
As of now, Mrs Manantan resides in her daughter Elma’s and husband John’s home in Cranbourne North and spends most of her day resting and reading the bible.
