CEBU CITY - At least 10,000 senior citizens here will experience a merrier Christmas after receiving their cash assistance of P1,000 monthly from the city government.

The distribution of the financial assistance started Tuesday (December 19) , according to Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr.

Hundreds of Cebuano elderly who qualified to the local pension program expressed their gratitude to city officials who fasttracked the release of the cash assistance.

Alcover, chairman of the city council’s Committee on Senior Citizens, said the city council has submitted for the mayor’s approval the is proposed ordinance allocating city funds to finance the P500 additional Christmas bonus to senior citizens.

Beneficiaries of the program are senior citizens who have not yet been officially registered by the local government.

According to Alcover there are at least 90,000 senior citizens in the city but so far the waiting list of beneficiaries already reflected 10,000 names.

He also aired the optimism that the Sangguniang Panlunsod will amend the ordinance granting senior citizens longevity benefits. Under the proposal, octogenarians and nonagenarians will receive a uniform P25,000 when they reach 80 and 90 years old.

A centenarian will get P50,000, just P50,000 less than the national government’s cash gift of P100,000.

The proposed ordinance seeks to amend the local version of the centenarian bill which currently provides a cash gift of P5,000 and P15,000 for octogenarians and nonagenarians, respectively.