THE Davao City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) awarded nine Dabawenyo centenarians P100,000 cash each from June 18 to 21, 2024.
Julie Dayaday, CSWDO head, said in a phone interview with SunStar Davao on Sunday morning, June 23, 2024, that they had given P100,000 cash to nine Dabawenyo centenarians in the city through house-to-house distribution.
The centenarians were Ching Siong Uy, Catalina Naraval, Felisa Deligencia, Lilian Carriedo, Elizabeth Guerzon, Josefina Sereno, Ulpiana Dalumpines, Panadem Macatondog, and Rosario Aglipa.
Dayaday added that aside from the cash, the centenarians were also given a plaque. The nine centenarians were the first batch of centenarians who received cash from the city government this year and there will be another batch who will receive the same soon.
The CSWDO head explained that they opted for house-to-house distribution to spare the centenarians the stress they would experience on traveling, especially since some of them are already bedridden or in wheelchairs.
In 2022, about 20 centenarians were awarded the same amount of cash, and by 2023, another 20 also received the same. In June 2024, Dayaday said 13 centenarians will be granted the same.
“Naa pay mga papers na gina-review namo no kay kinahanglan ang uban nag 100 years ang uban sa gyera pa so wala gyud ilang documents, nangawala (There are still papers that we are reviewing since they are already 100 years old, some of them lived during the war times their document are already missing),” Dayaday said.
Dayaday emphasized that they cross-checked the age of the centenarians without proper documents through the birth certificates of their children.
Dayaday also revealed that for those who have reached 100 years old alive but have died before their cash grants have been released, the office still gave the award to their families.
Centenarians who wish to avail of the awards must submit the following to the CSWDO District Office to which they belong: birth certificate, Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (Osca) ID, and for those without a birth certificate, any valid document certifying the age of the centenarian or the birth certificate of their child.
Under City Ordinance No. 0727-21, Series of 2021, also known as “An Order Honoring Centenarians in the City of Davao,” of May 2022, centenarians residing in Davao will receive an honorarium separate from the incentives given by the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Davao Region (DSWD-Davao).
Dayaday said that with the grant from DSWD-Davao and the CSWDO, centenarians in the city would receive a total of P200,000 in cash. RGP