P235M for 59T seniors ready

THE Cebu City Government will be releasing over P235 million in assistance to 59,500 senior citizens in the city on Holy Week.

Mayor Michael Rama announced yesterday that the City will be distributing the first tranche of the senior citizens’ financial assistance on March 25 and 26, which are Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday.

Each senior citizen will be receiving P4,000 out of the P10,000 the mayor promised this year.

In his regular news conference, Rama said the distribution of the cash assistance is a City Hall affair.

While the activity will be overseen by the Office of the Senior Citizen’s Affairs (Osca), Rama said City Hall’s 21 departments will be part of it and will be
responsible in preparing for the venue.

“They (employees) have all showed their commitment to this so they can articulate and share the meaning of respect for the elderly,” he said.

Osca Executive Officer Perla Ortega said the venue for the distribution will either be
the barangay’s sports complex or schools.

On March 25, Ortega said those who will be getting their share of the City’s cash assistance are the senior citizens from the 46 barangays in the north district.

The senior citizen’s cash assistance for the 34 barangays in the south district will be released on March 26.

Rama said he wants the cash assistance distributed through automated teller machines (ATM) so the elderly can just withdraw their money when it’s already available.

Rama insisted that the cash aid of the elderly will be distributed on a quarterly basis, defying the recently approved ordinance of Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. that seeks to release it monthly.