The City Government of Davao, through the City Social Welfare and Development Office, is now working for the release of the senior citizens’ annual subsidy.
Rosevic Joey Jayme, the Officer-In-Charge of the Social Welfare Operation Division (SWOD), said they are now preparing the payroll for the annual subsidy which will be released either last week of this month or early November.
“Ang atoang annual financial assistance for senior citizen 2024 budget is already in the process and we are hoping maka-release ta by this year. Sa karon amoa pa’ng gina-finalize ang mga payroll (Our annual financial assistance for senior citizen 2024 budget is already being processed and we are hoping to release it this year. Right now we are still finalizing the payroll),” Jayme said during the I-Speak Session on Thursday.
A total of 159,194 beneficiaries received subsidy last year. This year, Jayme said, their target is 170,000 beneficiaries.
She, however, noted that applications from August 1 this year, will not be included in the payroll.
“Ang cut-off sa application for this year kay July. So July 2024 nag cut-off ta, so kung last year sila nag-60 naapil na gyud sila karon basta nakaapil sila sa master (list) didto sa ilahang barangay social worker (The application cut-off for this year was in July. So if they turned 60 last year, they will receive the annual subsidy as long as they are listed in the master list),” Jayme said.
She added that even pensioners and those who do not belong to a senior citizens’ organization may avail of the subsidy.
“Ang atoang annual financial assistance wala siya nag-matter if pensioner or non-pensioner as long as you are a Davao City resident and you are 60 years old, naa naka’y OSCA ID. Regardless, kay voluntary ra man gud ang pag-apil sa ato’ng organization so we also include katong dili member sa organization (Our annual financial assistance does not matter if you are a pensioner or non-pensioner as long as you are a Davao City resident and you are 60 years old, have an OSCA ID. Regardless if you joined an organization because it is voluntary. So, we also include those who are not members of the organization),” she said.
She said any authorized representative, be it a family or non-family member, may claim the cash assistance by submitting a filled out authorization forms given by the district offices.
“I-validate man na siya sa atoang barangay social workers pod kung tinuod nga siya jud ang gi-authorize (It will be validated by barangay social workers if it is true that they are the authorized person),” she said.
Mari Mar Abayata, the focal person of the CSWDO’s senior citizens welfare program, in an interview on the city-owned Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) said the beneficiaries will still receive P1,500.
This is in accordance with Ordinance No. 0105-19 which grants financial assistance to senior citizens to support them in their maintenance medicines and other expenses.
She said during payout, the beneficiary must present documents such as the original Office of Senior Citizen Affairs (OSCA) ID, a photocopy ID, and any valid government ID.
She said they continue to cleanse the list of beneficiaries every second quarter of the year to ensure that only eligible senior citizens in the city will receive the subsidy.
“Nag-start ang clearing [karon nga tuig] atong March hangtod June, so ang ilahang master listing ilaha na na’ng gipang-crossmatched asa ang ubang senior citizen na nagpuyo (The clearing this year started from March to June, so the master listing has already been crossmatched to check where other senior citizens currently live),” she said. CIO
