Man, 103, walks barefoot for P50 aid

ALFERES. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CEBU CITY—Centenarian Terso Alferes traveled for 50 kilometers from Toledo City to Cebu City, walked barefoot due to a throbbing wound in the toe, and lost P400 to a pickpocket. All these he endured just to get an answer to a nagging question: Why has he not been receiving P50 in monthly financial assistance from the province unlike his relatives?

“My cousins, all younger than me, receive a monthly pension of P50 each. I am almost 104, but I have not received anything,” says Alferes, a widower with six children from Barangay Magdugo, Toledo.

His wife, Natividad, was killed by a drug user in 2001. Most of his children are mechanical engineers—one is based in Iloilo province and another is in Palawan province, he said.

Although he is 103, Alferes says he is still strong to work. He weeds the field of Magdugo village chief Juan Climaco Jr. every three days and receives P200, which he sends to his two grandchildren.

It is God’s will that he has lived this long, Alferes says. He keeps a diet of vegetables and fish.

What bothered him was when his younger cousins told him they had been receiving P50 each.

Toledo City Hall

Alferes went to Toledo City Hall to see Mayor John Osmeña to inquire about his problem, but he was barred by the guard from entering the building.

Climaco, the head of his barangay, advised him to see Gov. Hilario Davide III instead because the official could bring up the matter to President Aquino, an ally in the Liberal Party. He gave the old man P400—his six-day pay—for his journey.

On Oct. 15., Alferes packed his bag and set out for Cebu City. He brought with him his baptismal certificate showing that he was born on Feb. 13, 1911, to Bernardo Alferes and Marcelita Rosalita.

Dressed in a blue-and-white polo shirt and khaki shorts but shunning slippers because of a throbbing wound in the right big toe, he rode the bus to South Bus Terminal on Natalio Bacalso Avenue in Cebu City.

He decided to eat in a restaurant at Freedom Park in the downtown area, 3 km from the terminal, but someone slashed his left pocket and took his money. He describes what happened as “bad luck.”

The old man didn’t give up and took a jeepney to the Capitol. He told the driver about his misfortune and asked him not to make him pay the fare. The driver took pity on him and dropped him off to the Capitol.

Alferes went to the Provincial Social Welfare and Development (PSWD) Office on the ground floor. “They told me to wait. But I might just turn 104 and still won’t receive any news about my financial assistance,” he says.

When he insisted on seeing Davide himself at his office on the second floor, a PSWD employee had no choice but to accompany him. The governor didn’t just give him P1,000 from his own pocket; he referred Alferes to Toledo Vice Mayor Antonio Yapha.

Davide directed a PSWD personnel to escort Alferes to the bus terminal for his ride back to Toledo. The next day, Alferes showed Davide’s referral letter to Yapha.

The vice mayor described Alferes as a “jolly fellow” who knew how to engage someone in a conversation. After their talk, Yapha ordered the City Social Welfare and Development Office to include Alferes in its list of centenarians.

The oldest on the list was 110. Alferes was the sixth oldest.

Despite his efforts, Alferes may not just get what he has hoped for. The city council has yet to pass an ordinance granting honoraria to centenarians, possibly in December and the amount depending on available funds.

But Alferes looked happy when he left, according to Yapha. Apparently it was enough that the old man’s concern was given attention.