APALIT -- In the continuous goal to provide a decent lives for every senior citizen, the local government here and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) recently released more than P500,000 financial grants for their social pension.
At least 389 indigent senior citizens from different villages here received their pending cash grants for the last quarter of 2017 in the amount of P1,500 each.
Mayor Peter Nucom said that the 389 beneficiaries are only part of the more than thousand elderly identified by DSWD and Office of the Senior Citizens Affair (OSCA) here who need financial assistance.
While the activity was held in pursuant to the Expanded Senior Citizens Act, Nucom stressed that the local government also faithfully distribute all the funds dedicated to senior citizens as a way of thanksgiving to their contribution to the community during their early years.
“Maliban dito sa ating budget para sa social pension nila, may mga naka-allot din na budget ang munisipyo para sa mga financial and medical assistance kung sakaling kailanganin nila dahil alam naman natin na maliit na halaga lang ito, lalo na doon sa mga may maintenance na gamot,” he said.
(Aside from the social budget pension, there is also a budget for financial and medical assistance in case they need it because we know this is just a small amount, especially to those who have maintenenance medicines)
Osca President Cesar Sigua, meanwhile, extended the gratitude of the elderly community to Nucom and the whole local government for their continuous generosity to them, especially to needy ones who have minimal means of sustaining their monthly expenses.
He also expressed his hopes that all elderly in town will soon be included in the list of beneficiaries to eliminate the mood of inequality within the elderly community.
“Hopefully, sa mga susunod na distribution ay makasama na namin ang lahat ng mga kamukha namin senior citizen para mas sumaya kami at ang aming mga pamilya,” Sigua said.
(Hopefully, in the next distribution we will see fellow senior citizens so we will be happier including our families)