Numerous reasons could be cited for the low availment of the Centenarians Act cash grant-- which is only at 1,000 for every 12 million senior citizens. One is lack of awareness by the centenarian or the immediate kin; second there are not too many seniors reaching 100 years old and third maybe there is too much bureaucracy in applying and disbursing these funds and fourth perhaps the centenarian has no other relative around who can take him/her in claiming the cash grant.
Given the low availment-- or just 1,000 in every 12 million senior citizens-- of the mandated Centenarians Act cash grant annually, Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes, Senior Citizen Partylist introduced an amendment to the law lowering the age of applicability from 100 to 80 years old.
The House Special Committee on Senior Citizen Affairs has approved the bill expanding the scope of the Centenarians Act or Republic Act 10868, and asked the House Committee on Appropriations for its support, said Ordanes in a press release.
“This bill will widen the coverage of our centenarian gift by giving every senior citizen who reaches the age of 80 an ample amount of P25,000 and every 5 years thereafter. What’s more, once they reach 101, we even give them a bonus of 1 million pesos,” Senior Citizen Party-list Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes Jr said just before the committee approved the bill, Ordanes said.
“Ang kapalit ng kaunting dagdag na ‘to sa badyet natin ay ang di matutumbasang kasiyahan ng labin-dalawang milyong senior citizens sa ating bansa,” Ordanes also said.
“Only one thousand of our more than twelve million senior citizens get the opportunity to avail of this privilege every year. Our efforts for this bill culminated in its passage by 3rd reading in the last 18th Congress. Unfortunately, due to lack of time, it failed to hurdle the Senate floor,” he noted.
Ordanes recalled: “Seven years ago, this august chamber made a landmark legislation called the Centenarians Act. Then, our colleagues passed this law as a form of recognition to the innumerable contributions of our senior citizens for the country and as a way for our country to give back to them as they reach the twilight of their lives.”
“Under this law, we gave our senior citizens a letter of felicitation from our government and an ample cash gift that they can use to maybe treat their grandchildren to celebrate their century-old tenure on this earth or as a way for them to augment their expenses that have significantly increased due to their old age,” he added.
Tags: #SeniorCitizenPartylist, #amendmentstoCentenarianCashGrant, #reducingagefrom100to80