Makati residents 90-99 years old to get P10,000 cash gift yearly

MANILA, Philippines – The newest benefit for the senior citizens of Makati City took effect Tuesday, July 30: residents aged 90 to 99 will receive cash gift of P10,000 every year. 

To be qualified for this benefit, the senior citizens will also have to be Blu Card holders for at least 5 years. (The Makati city government color-codes the types of services it gives to its residents, blue being assigned to senior citizens.)  

City Ordinance No. 2019-A-023, which was approved by the city council on July 19, amends City Ordinance No. 2016-A-043. The cash gifts will be released in two tranches: before or in July and before and in December.  

Any Blu Card holder who turns 90 in 2019 will receive only half of the cash gift, in December.  

The year a senior citizen who is a Blu Card holder turns 100, he or she will receive P100,000 instead. From their 101st birth year onwards, they will continue receiving the P10,000 yearly. 

So far, 57 centenarians have received the P100,000 cash gift.

As of June 2019, there are 2,096 Blu Card members aged 90-99, according to the Makati Social Welfare Department.

“I am pleased to report that our newly-elected councilors have passed my proposal to give our senior citizens an incentive they truly deserve. We want inclusive progress for our Makatizens, and this is an acknowledgment of their contributions to our city,” Mayor Abigail Binay said in a statement Tuesday. 

Binay said she had pushed for this ordinance in 2018, but opposition councilors blocked it. – Rappler.com 

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