Zamboanga centenarians receive cash incentives

TEN CENTENARIANS received P50,000 each from the City Government on top of the incentives granted by the national government as a way of honoring and recognizing the contributions of senior citizens to the society.

This year, the recipients of the cash incentives were Maria Pescador, of San Jose Gusu; Anita Yu- Asensi, of Canelar; Vincent Lledo, of Talisayan; Jamilan Waja, of Talon-Talon; Kamaluddin Gumbahali, of Calarian; Lourdes Rebollos, of Guiwan; Jacoba Galvez, of Guiwan; Eufrocina Sibuyan, of La paz; Nora Bulagas, of Calarian; and Alipio Gobaton Sr., of Tetuan. 

The City Social Welfare and Development Office and the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs spearheaded the distribution of incentives. The grant of the cash privilege is only one of the programs for senior citizens that debuted under the Climaco administration. 

Mayor Beng Climaco said the elderly and those in the vulnerable sector will largely benefit from the 2021 Executive Budget amounting to P 4.38 billion. The unique configuration of fiscal plans assimilate all the previously identified needs of the City and the new challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.  

She said her main priorities remain the same since even before she became mayor in 2013 and these are security, health and education.  “This budget encompasses all of our social and health-related needs during this crisis. It aims to feed the hungry and heal the sick, hence let us listen to the needs of our people and find it in our hearts to see that this is more than a fiscal plan – it is our roadmap to health and recovery from the global challenge, that is Covid-19,” Climaco said. 

She said some P26 million are also appropriated for the “birthday” benefits of senior citizens and P1 million for octogenarians or person who is from 80 to 89 years old; nonagenarians or those who are 90 to 99 years old; and the centenarians or those who are 100 years old and above; and another P5 million for people with disabilities.

“Since our society’s patriarchs and matriarchs are in need of these social protection programs, now more than ever, as well as our PWDs and other vulnerable sectors, we have included twenty-six million pesos million appropriation for the birthday benefits of our elderly people, and one million pesos for the Octogenarian, Nonagenarian and Centenarian; and five million (pesos) for PWDs,” the mayor stressed, adding, other social programs included in the budget are the P187 million “Largo Vida” Program, which is expanded to include not only the distribution of medicines to elderly people and other vulnerable members of the communities, but also vitamins and health supplements.

And the P65-million “Ayuda La Vida Program” intended to provide community livelihood projects for various sectors including the night market and “ukay-ukay” stall holders; P50 million for the “Cuida Vida Program” (Soup Kitchen Program) - a mobile feeding initiative to sustain the daily meals of the marginalized and most affected families of the Covid-19 pandemic.

She said the budget also has P50 million for “Salva Vida Program” which is intended to provide food packs and  family hygiene kits to low-income families in disadvantaged rural and urban communities; P15 million for the outreach services to all of Zamboanga’s 98 barangays; and P100 million for “Socialized Housing Programs”.

“As evident in our plans and programs, the beneficiaries of this budget are not limited to a privileged few.  This budget, by all intents and purposes, is for all the compueblanos of Zamboanga because as the Mother of this City, I will always be driven by my instinct to protect and nurture my children from the economic turmoil and ill effects of this pandemic,” Climaco said. (Zamboanga Post)

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