Tom plans b-day release of cash

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City South District Rep. Tomas Osmeña said once he will be reelected as city mayor after the May 13 local and national elections, he will have the senior citizens cash assistance released in full during their birthdays.

Osmeña, who started the granting of the senior citizens cash assistance when he was still mayor of Cebu City, however clarified he is also not against distributing the benefits to the seniors by month or every quarter.

When the plan to grant P2,000 cash assistance to each of the seniors was hatched during Osmeña’s term as mayor in 2007, it was originally intended as birthday and Christmas gifts to the elderly.

Each senior who collected their cash assistance from the city last year received a total of P7,000 but there is a plan to increase the amount to P10,000 this year, and another P2,000 increase in 2014 to make it P12,000 for each year.

The City Council had approved Mayor Michael Rama’s recommendation to allocate P600 million for the senior citizens benefits in the P5.2 billion annual budget for this year, although there is a provision in the appropriation ordinance that the benefits shall be released only in June and December.

But Councilor Margarita “Margot” Osmeña, head of the City Council’s committee on budget and finance, is scheduled to propose an ordinance during their session this Wednesday to amend the appropriation ordinance and allow the release of the seniors’ cash assistance on a monthly basis.

According to Margot she was convinced that the release of the seniors’ cash assistance should be done monthly because some elderly persons are in dire need of a regular source of assistance, especially those who have to buy maintenance medicines that are taken on a daily basis.

The city legislators initially wanted the assistance to be released only in June because they believe that the mayor will use it to boost his political interest if it will be done before the elections.

Records show that there are 54,000 senior citizens accredited by the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs but some 2,500 of them were not able to collect their benefits amounting to P10 million last December.   (FREEMAN)