TO ENCOURAGE senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) to exercise, a lawmaker has proposed to let them enter the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) for free.
City Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr. moved during the council’s session on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, to request Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia to study the possibility of granting entrance fee exemptions for senior citizens and PWDs.
Alcover said the City has the ability to send P12,000 annual cash aid, paid quarterly at P3,000, to elderly residents. The aid helps senior citizens purchase maintenance medications that can help them stay healthy.
The councilor then asked as to why the City is unable to waive the entry fee for senior citizens despite being capable of providing them with financial assistance.
Alcover, who chairs the committee on senior citizens, argued that eliminating fees for seniors and PWDs would encourage them to use the facility for exercise, potentially improving their health.
“Kon ilibre kini, mas makaagni sa atong mga senior citizens ug PWD nga moanha mag-exercise, maglakaw-lakaw, mag-jogging ba ang uban para...mapataas pa ang ilang kinabuhi,” he said in a privilege speech.
(If the entrance is free, it will encourage our senior citizens and persons with disabilities to go there to exercise, walk, or jog, so that...they can live longer.)
The CCSC charges regular users P20 in the morning and P25 in the afternoon.
Senior citizens, PWDs and students pay P15 in the morning and P20 in the afternoon.
Alcover cited a Supreme Court jurisprudence which emphasizes the revered status of elderly people in Philippine society.
He also discussed existing social welfare laws and policies benefiting seniors, including the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 and local ordinances providing free movie tickets, parking, and annual assistance. / JPS