THE Cebu City Government will release the remaining P2,000 financial assistance to around 77,000 senior citizens.
The final distribution for this year will happen on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019. The cash aid is for the months of November and December.
Mayor Edgardo Labella said he decided to set the date of the financial aid distribution on Dec. 1 after several elderly residents requested that they receive it early so they can buy the things they need and medicines for their illnesses.
The distribution of cash assistance will happen in barangay halls and barangay gymnasiums.
The City urged senior citizens to bring their identification cards issued by the Office of Senior Citizen Affairs (Osca) on Dec. 1. so they can claim their financial aid right away.
When Labella assumed power, his administration had to approve a new budget to fund the progam for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs).
The second supplemental budget amounting to P2.5 billion included the P450 million for the cash aid of senior citizens and PWDs for the second half of 2019.
The City Council approved last June 4 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 senior citizens 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 Osca. (PAC / KAL)