Bill to provide burial assistance to Makati elderly

The City Council of Makati has come up with an ordinance to provide burial assistance to families of elderly citizens aged 50 years old and above.

City Ordinance No. 2002-013 provides for the granting of P4,000 to the families of deceased elderly citizens for their burial.

The only requirement to avail of the benefit is that the deceased should be bona fide registered voters of the city and have resided in the city for at least two years.

Mayor Jejomar Binay said that the benefit is in recognition of the "services, hard work and efforts of the old timers who contributed in one way or the other to the development and progress presently enjoyed by the government of the City of Makati."

The budget for the new benefit was provided for in the P4.7 billion 2002 budget of the city under the Special Activities Fund of the Mayor. It was explained by the City Council that the P4,000 benefit is separate from the existing burial assistance being provided by the city government to its constituents.

Under Resolution No. 688, the city provides P5,000 burial assistance to accredited veterans of the city.

Resolution No. 60, on the other hand, grants P5,000 burial assistance to the families of deceased residents of the city whose ages at the time of death are 49 years old and below. – Marvin Sy