The House Special Committee on Senior Citizen Affairs has approved the bill expanding the scope of the Centenarians Act or Republic Act 10868, and asked the House Committee on Appropriations for its support.
“This bill will widen the coverage of our centenarian gift by giving every senior citizen who reaches the age of 80 an ample amount of P25,000 and every 5 years thereafter. What’s more, once they reach 101, we can even give them a bonus of P1 million,” Senior Citizen Party-list Representative Rodolfo Ordanes Jr. said just before the committee approved the bill.
“Once they reach 101, we can even give them a bonus of P1 million.”
“Ang kapalit ng kaunting dagdag na ‘to sa badyet natin ay ang ‘di matutumbasang kasiyahan ng labin-dalawang milyong senior citizens sa ating bansa,” Ordanes stressed.
“Ang kapalit ng kaunting dagdag na ‘to sa badyet natin ay ang ‘di matutumbasang kasiyahan ng labin-dalawang milyong senior citizens sa ating bansa.”
“Only 1,000 of our more than 12 million senior citizens get the opportunity to avail of this privilege every year. Our efforts for this bill culminated in its passage by 3rd reading in the last 18th Congress. Unfortunately, due to lack of time, it failed to hurdle the Senate floor,” the veteran legislator noted.
The seasoned lawmaker recalled: “Seven years ago, this august chamber made a landmark legislation called the Centenarians Act. Then, our colleagues passed this law as a form of recognition to the innumerable contributions of our senior citizens to our country and as a way for our country to give back to them as they reach the twilight of their lives.”
“Under this law, we gave our senior citizens a letter of felicitation from our government and an ample cash gift that they can use to maybe treat their grandchildren to celebrate their century-old tenure on this earth or as a way for them to augment their expenses that have significantly increased due to their old age,” he added.
