LOCAL government units (LGUs) are supposed to set aside one percent of their annual budget for senior citizens.
However, not one in Central Visayas complied with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) circular, said Federation of Senior Citizen Associations of the Philippines (Fescap) national vice president Felix Abella.
A City Government consultant, Abella is also Labangon, Cebu City’s barangay captain. He said that even Cebu City does not automatically allocate one percent of its yearly budget for senior citizens, who must submit project proposals.
The one percent appropriation cannot be drawn as financial assistance but in the form of work or projects designed to help the elderly, he said.
He said their Luzon counterparts are better off because their respective LGUs already observe the circular.
Abella said they will ask all senior citizen chapters, specifically the United Senior Citizens Association (Usca), to demand for the allocation.
He estimated that there are already 420,000 senior citizens or those 60 years old and above in Central Visayas, as of this year.
The Fescap already sent a resolution to President Arroyo asking her to approve House Bill 3439 or “An Act Granting Old Age Pension for Life to Senior Citizens who retired under (Republic Act) RA 1616.”
RA 1616 gives those who have served the government for at least 20 years an option to retire early and receive their pension in lump sum.
“Pero after five years buhi pa man mi, kinahanglan pa man mi’g tabang (Most of us survive after five years, so we need the pension),” Abella said.
He said that while prices of commodities soar, their pensions remain small, and their request for exemption from the Reformed Value-Added Tax (RVAT) law remains unanswered.
Fescap argued that imposing RVAT on the senior citizens defeats the purpose of granting them discounts for purchases covered under Republic Act 9257 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2003.
The law requires all establishments and amusement centers to grant discounts to senior citizens. (RHM)
