WITH a new law granting cash gifts to octogenarians and nonagenarians, a congressman seeks an updated database on the elderlies who have reached 80 years old and above.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte wants local government units (LGUs) to help the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) come up with a more comprehensive list of Filipinos aged 80 years old and beyond.
Citizens who turn 80, 85, 90 and 95 will receive a cash gift of P10,000 by the government under the new law.
Villafuerte said an accurate cataloguing of Filipino citizens who are 60 years and above is “crucial for the government following President Marcos’ enactment of of Republic Act 11982, also called an “Act granting Benefits to Filipino Octogenarians and Nonagenarians.”
The new law grants a P10,000-cash award for all Filipinos when they reach the ages of 80, 85, 90 and 95, and the amendatory law, RA 11916, or “An Act Increasing the Social Pension of Indigent Senior Citizens” of 2022 that doubled the monthly pension of indigent seniors to P1,000.”
“I am appealing to local officials to go the extra mile in helping the NCSC and three more agencies in setting up the Elderly Data Management System or list of elderly Filipinos entitled to the cash bonanza, along with the national database of all senior citizens,” said Villafuerte, one of the authors of both RA 11982 and RA 11916.
RA 11982 amended RA 10868, or the “Centenarians Act” of 2016, by granting a P10,000 cash gift to senior citizens when they reach 80, and every five years thereafter until they turn 95.
On the other hand, RA 10868 provided for a P100,000-windfall for centenarians, along with a Letter of Felicitation from the President.
Villafuerte explained that RA 11982 tasks the NCSC, in coordination with local governments; the Departments of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to undertake an online registration senior citizens for entry into the comprehensive Elderly Data Management System which would contain all information about Filipinos eligible for the cash gifts.