Monday, June 23, 2008 Gifts only for seniors who voted
NOT all senior citizens will actually receive the P2,000 Mayor Tomas Osmeña promised as birthday and Christmas cash gifts from the Cebu City Government.
Only those who voted in the May 2007 elections will get P1,000 each on their birthdays and P1,000 during Christmas.
City Councilor Rodrigo Abellanosa, Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) chairman, said that though many senior citizens tried appealing for exemption from the condition, the mayor made it a requirement for the cash gifts.
Labangon Barangay Captain Felix Abella, Central Visayas Federation of Senior Citizens’ Associations of the Philippines president, asked that the City do away with the requirement.
Basak San Nicolas Barangay Captain George Rama suggested that the City could just ask the barangay captains to certify that a senior citizen is a resident of their barangay.
Proof
But Abellanosa said the mayor made it a requirement as proof that senior citizens continue to be “productive and participative.”
“We will no favor voters of the administration party. Besides, we have no way of knowing who they voted for. What the mayor wants to do is make sure that, as stated under Republic Act 9275, they are still productive and participative,” he said.
RA 9257, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2003, mandates the giving of 20 percent discount to senior citizens.
The OSCA estimated that some 29,000 persons in Cebu City are over 60 years old.
Abellanosa said many have approached his office to ask for reconsideration, saying they failed to vote because of equally important responsibilities, but the City has no other recourse but to use Commission on Elections records as basis.
The City Council has already approved the allocation of P5 million for the cash gifts under the first supplemental budget passed last month.
Guidelines
Abellanosa said no one has received yet the cash gifts as his office is still processing the documents and laying out guidelines on how they should be handed out.
Also, City Councilor Edgardo Labella will present next week a resolution amending Ordinance 2141, or the “Ordinance Creating the Senior Citizen’s Council.”
The measure identifies the city mayor as senior citizens’ council chairman and the OSCA head as deputy chairman.
The members will comprise the city council committee on family and women chairperson, vice mayor, City Federation of Senior Citizens president, and a senior citizen
representative each for the north and south districts.
Representatives from two non-government organizations, the Department of Interior and Local Government, and the city Department of Social Welfare Services will also serve as council members. (RHM)
