MAYPAJO, Caloocan City — Following yesterday's inaugural payout of P10,000 cash gift to qualified senior citizen beneficiaries under the Expanded Centenarians Act of 2024, several senior citizens groups decried the continuing disregard of lawmakers in the approval of Senate Bill No. (SBN) 141, or Act Granting Universal Social Pension to all Senior Citizens.

The proposed measure, that had already been unanimously approved in the House of Representatives, has been 'shelved' by the Senate committee on social justice, welfare and rural development chaired by no less than President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (PBBM)'s elder sister, senator Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios' Imee' Marcos-Manotoc.

Despite numerous appeals from several senior citizens associations across the country, the lady senator has been indifferent to the urgency of the bill and has not even calendared it as a priority agenda in the committee's schedule of session hearings, which belies her brother's efforts to recognize the importance of giving care to the country's elderly.

"Mabuti pa iyong mga 80 na at pataas (ang edad), magkakaroon sila (ng benepisyo) kahit maliit lang, dito kami sa Caloocan e walang natatanggap dahil kulang nga raw ang pondo para sa mga senior citizen. Sampung taon na akong senior e hanggang ngayon wala akong nakukuha ni singling doleng mula sa pamahalaan, lokal man o nasyonal," Mang Celso, 70, lamented in an interview by this writer.

"Hindi ba sabi ni PBBM walang maiiwan sa kanyang Bagong Pilipinas?" he added to ask and express his sadness for being left out.

At the inaugural payout held at Malacañan Palace, President Marcos Jr. had reiterated his desire for elders to live with comfort and dignity: “They (senior citizens) deserve nothing but our love, our care, and our protection.”

He distributed cash gifts to select senior citizens identified by the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) even as similar cash gift distributions were simultaneously held in different parts of the country, benefiting 1,079 elderly.

The President directed the NCSC to ensure that only qualified individuals benefit from the financial incentives. The NCSC aims to complete the distribution of cash gifts to 7,759 identified beneficiaries by the end of this month and ₱2.9 billion in financial aid would be distributed to 275,000 senior citizens across the country this year.

He said about 73 percent of senior citizens depend on family support, while 55 percent use their own money for health expenses.

On February 26 last year, Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act 11982, or the Expanded Centenarians Act of 2024, expanding the benefits, formerly limited to centenarians. Senior citizens who reach 80, 85, 90 and 95 years old are now granted a ₱10,000 cash gift. Under the law, the government’s benefit for the centenarians is ₱100,000.

Senior citizens are also entitled to five to 20 percent discounts on products or services under RA 11982. These include a five-percent discount on water and electricity, applicable when water usage does not exceed 30 cubic meters, and electricity consumption is limited to 100 kilowatt-hours.