1,200 seniors didn’t get cash aid

CEBU, Philippines - Antonio Cabriana, 75, left home in Sudlon II, a mountainous barangay located at the boundary with Danao City, early yesterday to Cebu City to try his luck right at the seat of the Cebu City Government.

He said his barangay refused to give him his P2,000 cash aid from City Hall last Friday because he failed to present his senior citizen’s identification card, which is one of the requirements in claiming the money.

 â€œDugay na nawala akong ID apan namasin lang ko na makakubra sa kwarta (I lost my ID long ago.  I am trying my luck. I might finally get the money here at City Hall),” Cabriana said.

He joined 1,200 senior citizens, or two percent of the 60,000 beneficiaries, who could not get their cash assistance from the City because of problems in fulfilling the requirements.

Executive Assistant to the Mayor and former councilor Jose Daluz III explained that the two percent were in what he called the “special payroll,” or those whose names had to go through revalidation and “cleansing”.

“Ang rason kay unclaimed, deficiency, or duplication of names, and gi-set aside pa ang questionable na pangan then gi-confirmed pa ang status sa qualified beneficiaries of the financial assistance,” he said.

The distribution, which started in the North District last Friday and in the South District last Saturday, would run for 15 working days.

The City Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs said those who lost their IDs should present a voter’s certification, barangay clearance, 1x1 ID picture, affidavit of loss, and pay P100 replacement fee for the I.D to be able to claim the money.

As long as he or she could present the necessary identification, a Cebu City senior citizen whose name is in the master list could receive P2,000, which represents the second tranche of the P10,000 annual cash assistance from the City.

The first installment of P4,000 was given last March, with the third and final amount of P4,000 to be given in December as Christmas gift.

Daluz said the amount would grow to P12,000 for 2014, but the City already stopped accepting applications for the cash aid starting last June 13.

He said that the P2,000 cash should be claimed within 15 working days; else, it would revert to the City’s general fund.

Cabriana, who went home empty-handed yesterday, has two weeks to fulfill all OSCA requirements to get his cash. (FREEMAN)