Makati Mayor Abby Binay on Saturday announced a plan to grant a P10,000 cash gift per year to some 1,968 Makati senior citizens aged 90 to 99 who have been Blu Card holders for at least five years.
The mayor made the announcement before residents of Barangay Olympia during the Ugnayan sa Barangay, a weekly dialog held on Saturdays in a designated barangay.
“We want to add new ways of helping our senior citizens who deserve care and compassion from the city government. Providing an additional P10,000 cash benefit yearly for our elderly…would help defray their daily subsistence and other needs,” the mayor said.
Binay said she hoped the City Council would support her proposed program so that it can be put into effect early next year for the benefit of the city’s nonagenarians.
Under this program, a senior citizen who has been a Blu Cardholder for at least five years will receive P10,000 when he or she reaches the age of 90, and P10,000 every year thereafter until age 99. Those already in their 90s at the time of the program’s effectivity will receive P10,000 yearly for the remainder of the period before they turn 100.
Makati centenarians are already entitled to a P100,000 cash gift from the city government.
“Makati’s senior citizens are by far the most pampered among their peers in our country today. But this will not stop us from exploring more opportunities to make them happy, for it is always a pleasure to show them how grateful we are for their contributions to society during their heyday,” Binay said.
At present, senior citizens under the Blu Card program receive an annual cash gift given in two equal installments every June and December.
