THE Cebu City Government is set to release the P3,000 financial aid to senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) on Sept. 21-22, 2019.

Mayor Edgardo Labella made the announcement after the City Council approved his office’s request for a second supplemental budget in the amount of P2.5 billion, which includes P455 million for the city’s elderly residents and P80 million for PWDs.

The cash assistance covers the months of July, August and September.

The distribution will be done in barangay halls or gyms.

Before distributing the cash aid, the City will review its list; it will delete the names of the beneficiaries who have already died.

The City will prioritize 75,000 senior citizens, according to Labella.

Last June 4, the City Council approved the amendatory ordinance sponsored by Councilor Eugenio Gabuya Jr. which mandates that elderly people who had been registered in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from 2011 until 2013 will get the financial aid.

City Ordinance 2453, which was authored by Labella when he was still a councilor, states that only the elderly who registered in Comelec in 2010 and earlier were allowed to get cash assistance of P1,000 each month.

Those who transferred their Comelec registration to Cebu City in 2011 and later are not allowed to get the financial aid, but they can still avail themselves of discounts from establishments if they have an identification card issued by the Office of Senior Citizen Affairs (Osca).

Based on the Osca’s list, thermore than 1,000 senior citizens have applied for inclusion in the list of qualified beneficiaries after the amendatory ordinance was passed.

“There will be verification that will be undertaken so that we will not commit a mistake and find out if this beneficiary is really entitled to the financial assistance based on the amendatory ordinance,” Labella said.

As to the PWDs, City Social Welfare and Services chief Jeffrey Ibones said there are 12,000 PWDs who will receive P3,000 each. FROM PAC OF SUPERBALITA CEBU / KAL