House special committee on senior citizens’ technical working group approved a consolidated bill which will grant P25,000 cash gift to the elderly when they reach the age of 80 years old.
The bill will also grant an additional P25,000 when seniors turn 85, 90, and 95 years old. Centenarians meanwhile will receive P1 million once they become 101 and another P1 million when they reach 102 years old.
TWG of the House panel members consolidated the 21 bills seeking to amend Section 2 of Republic Act (RA) No. 10868 or the Centenarians Act of 2016 in a virtual meeting yesterday (May 14).
Senior Citizens party-list Rep. Francisco Datol Jr. lead the panel, and they all agreed that cash gifts should be given to senior citizens when they turn 80 years old.
RA 10868, the current law granting cash gifts to elderly mandates all Filipino centenarians living in the Philippines or abroad, will receive P100,000.
“We have lowered down the age to 80 years old kasi nga bihira na ‘yung 100 years old (because it is rare to reach 100 years old), and ang tumanggap lang noong nakaraang taon ay 400 lang eh, anlaki naman ng budget kasi niyan (and last year, only 400 received the cash reward, we have a big budget for that),” Datol told the Manila Bulletin in a phone interview on Thursday night.
Datol added the committee agreed that cash gifts worth P25,000 be given to senior citizens who reach the age of 80, and another P25,000 be given on their 85th, 90th, and 95th birthday.
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Cash gifts for seniors aged 80 up
The solon said those centenarians who are given P100,000 under the law, will receive P1 million on their 101st birthday, and another P1 million when they reach the age of 102 if the amendment becomes law.
Kasi kokonti lang naman ang tumatanggap nun eh, kaya naman pondohan ng gobyerno ‘yun,” he said.
(Because only a few are receiving it, the government can afford to fund it.)
Datol said the cash grants would allow senior citizens to enjoy the gift from the government at a much earlier age.
The Senior Citizens party-list representative is confident the bill would pass on the second reading “next week.”
“Kita niyo nga ang ABS-CBN [franchise bill], isang araw lang second reading, di ba? Kung gusto ng pamunuan ng Kongreso ‘yan ay makakaya. Kasi ihahabol namin ‘yan sa 2020, para sa 2021 gumagana na yan,” Datol said.
(As you have seen, the ABS-CBN [franchise bill] was approved on second reading in just one day. If the House leadership wants it, it will be passed. We are trying to have approved in 2020 so that in 2021, it will take effect.)