DAVAO City Councilor Victorio Advincula said that they are still finalizing the proposed amendments to the Executive Order (EO) for the city's program for the separation of the release system for the death benefits of senior citizens.
Advincula, chair of the committee on social programs, during the Pulong-Pulong ni Pulong on Tuesday, May 8, said that the EO for death benefits system is supposed to be done last December 2017 but last January 2018 it was put on hold due to a problem found in its 2014 executive order (EO).
The EO provides the IRR of the City Ordinance No. 0201-14, which directs the grant of Death Benefit assistance in the amount of P5,000 to the surviving heirs of a deceased senior citizen.
Currently, they are crafting to impose an amended EO that will be sent to the office of the city mayor for finalization.
“For the senior citizens, kindly wait for we are functioning the release of death benefits for you, for the team, for the people, for the sector, because we still need an operating system and some computer hardwares,” Advincula said.
He added that they also need to create a computer program for the authorization of the beneficiaries and to link with National Civil Registrar (NCR) to verify death certificates for funeral assistance and prevent frauds.
On a previous published article, Advincula said that only non-pensioner senior citizens can avail of the assistance, and the deceased must also do not have a burial or service plan because they really want to make sure that only those who really need the help of the city will be accommodated and those who have no capacity to pay for their funeral or burial services.
The purpose of this program is to release the death benefits of the senior citizens easier and to unburden the Lingap Para sa Mahirap system.
Once finalized, beneficiaries of qualifying senior citizen can receive a minimum amount of P5,000 for burial assistance. They may plead or ask further assistance from the Office of the City Mayor. (Brisbane Q. Titular, FSUU Intern/SunStar Davao)