Cebu City to resume giving cash gifts to seniors

THE Cebu City government may resume the distribution of cash gifts to registered senior citizens next month.

The birthday incentive of P2,000 for each senior citizen will be distributed as the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) is expected to finish purging “ghost beneficiaries” from its registry of senior citizens,” said Catherine Yso, DSWS head.

The DSWS will release only half of the P4,000 annual benefit for the elderly because the P100 million outlay is not enough.

“But we will still be giving the other P2,000 when the next budget will be approved and released,” Yso said.

The cash gifts will be distributed in barangay halls instead of the Plaza Sugbo “to make it easier” for senior citizens to collect.

To ensure that the distribution will not be tainted by politics, staff of the City Treasurer’s Office, not barangay officials, will distribute the money.

Yesterday was the deadline for senior citizens to validate their identification cards. The DSWS has validated 27,000 of more than 30,000 names, Yso said.

Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs head Guillermo Casanillo earlier said they discovered at least 100 ghost senior citizens in their list.