Alcover wants kin to still claim cash aid  for deceased seniors

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City Councilor Pastor "Jun" Alcover will file an amendment to City Ordinance (CO) 2529, changing the provision that states that the P12,000 annual cash aid to senior citizens would be received every month.

He said that while the practice now is the city distributing it every three months (P3,000), the ordinance states that the cash be received every month (P1,000), which poses a problem for the families of senior citizens who die before receiving the cash aid during the quarterly distribution.

This is because the next of kin could no longer claim the cash aid of P1,000 per month for the months when the senior citizen was still alive.

This is because the senior citizen is supposedly the one who should sign the monthly voucher, but the city government distributes the cash assistance every three months and not every month.

Yesterday, Alcover told members of the media that it is about time that the quarterly distribution must be formalized, through an amendment of CO 2529.

This, he said, should allow the family of a senior citizens who recently died to still get their entitled cash aid for the month that he was still alive.

“Karon nagproblema ta kay gi-quarterly man. So kung gi-quarterly, ang problema, kung pasabot karong September mag-distribution,...so supposed to be tulo ka buwan (Hulyo, Agusto, Septiyemre) ang madawat, pero kung namatay siya sa tunga-tunga sa August, supposedly...duha pa ka buwan iyang madawat unta,”  Alcover said.

He thought of amending the ordinance after receiving complaints that the families of seniors who died were not able to receive the equivalent cash assistance for the months when they were still alive and were therefore still entitled to get them.

“Pero di na man kadawat kay wala man sa ordinance, kay monthly man gud ang naa sa ordinansa, then ang practice is quarterly na. Wala na nausab ba,” Alcover said.

He said he would be adding a provision stating that the next of kin will be able to get this financial assistance on behalf of the deceased senior citizen.

“So among gihimo karon, katong mga hingtungdan sa mga silbi nipanaw na, gipa-report namo sa Opisina sa Osca (Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs). Ipalista ang ilang mga pangan og kanus-a namatay, para magpapasar ko og resolution nga bayaran gyud na sila,” Alcover said.

Per Osca records, there are 89,987 registered senior citizens in Cebu City who are entitled to get P1,000 a month from City Hall as cash assistance.

The city distributed the cash assistance for the third quarter of this year last September 29.

Vicente Esmeña, Osca head, said the distribution, which is being done in barangay gyms and at the homes of bedridden beneficiaries, will last for 10 days.

Alcover, though, said there may be delays in the distribution of the cash assistance to the families of deceased senior citizens. (CEBU NEWS)