City increases financial assistance to senior citizens who reach 100 years old

THE Cebu City Council has increased the cash gift the City Government is giving to senior citizens who are 100 years old and above.

The council approved in mass motion the ordinance of City Councilor Rodrigo Abellanosa that amended City Ordinance (CO) 2235, otherwise known as the “Ordinance Conferring the Centenary Senior Citizen’s Award to Qualified Senior Citizens in October of Each Year.”

Under the newly-approved measure, the cash gift given to centenarians is increased from P5,000 to P100,000.

In his two-page ordinance, Abellanosa, who chairs the council’s committee on social services, said the increase is appropriate since the initial P5,000 cash incentive given to them is very small.

Medicines, food

“A bigger and more reasonable amount of cash gift is necessary to enable the awardee to cope with the escalating cost of medicines, food, shelter, and special care, among others,” he said.

Abellanosa said centenarians serve as role models for the younger generations “to aspire for a long span of life by adopting a healthy lifestyle.”

The P100,000 cash gift will only be given once to a centenarian.

The P100,000 cash incentive will be over and above the P5,000 financial assistance — P3,000 as birthday gift and P2,000 as Christmas gift — that the City annually gives to its elderly.

Centenarians will also be given a plaque to acknowledge and honor them.

Under the measure, though, the centenarian should be a resident of the city for the past 10 years in order to qualify for the P100,000 financial incentive from the City.

The cash gift will be given to the centenarians in October, the Senior Citizens’ Month.