Alcover: Monthly distribution impractical

CEBU City Councilor Pastor “Jun” Alcover Jr. has criticized Mayor Nestor Archival’s proposal for a monthly distribution of senior citizen aid, calling the plan “impractical” for both the City Government and its more than 92,000 beneficiaries.

In an interview on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, Alcover said monthly payroll preparation is too burdensome and that receiving only P1,000 would barely cover travel costs for seniors.

Alcover said he was surprised by Archival’s pronouncement that the matter still needed the council’s approval, pointing out that the existing ordinance already mandates a monthly distribution.

“He doesn’t need to ask permission from the council because there’s already an ordinance that says payment must be made every month. Why did it become every three months? That’s no longer in the ordinance, but it was just practiced for the sake of practicality,” Alcover said.

He explained that the shift to quarterly distribution was due to the rapid growth in the number of senior citizen beneficiaries. From just 30,000 to 50,000 when the program started, the figure has since risen to more than 92,000.

He added that preparing the payroll involves around 12,000 pages, with many people needing to sign them.

He said if this were done monthly, Cebu City Hall wouldn’t be able to do anything else because they’d be constantly signing documents and wouldn’t be finished in just one day, but weeks.

Alcover said senior citizen groups have also expressed their preference for quarterly payouts.

He said that if senior citizens only receive P1,000 per month, it wouldn’t be very useful. A quarterly distribution, he explained, is more beneficial because they are less likely to spend the money all at once.

Amendment

The councilor said he plans to file an amendment to the ordinance to formally make the distribution quarterly, aligning the law with the current practice and the feedback from senior citizens.

Archival said in a press conference on Sept. 22 that the quarterly distribution actually costs more than monthly releases, suggesting that aid should be given at the end of every month. He clarified, however, that any change would still require council approval.

Under City Ordinance 2453, qualified senior citizens are entitled to P1,000 per month or P3,000 per quarter. Archival said the City is reviewing its master list of beneficiaries, with the possibility of including seniors who registered in 2024 after the removal of deceased names.

Nearly 92,000 senior citizens in Cebu City are currently qualified to receive the financial assistance.

Archival announced plans to revive the Long Life Medical Assistance Program, which provides maintenance medicines for senior citizens. The program was first introduced under then-mayor Tomas Osmeña and later adopted by the late mayor Edgardo Labella through the City’s Preventive Healthcare Program.

Alcover stressed that while he has no objection if Archival insists on monthly distribution as provided in the ordinance, the real question is whether the City can handle the workload and its impact on operations.

“I have no problem if Archival pushes for the monthly distribution since that’s what the ordinance says. But the question is, can it be done? What will be the impact on the work at City Hall?” he said. / CAV