MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — Centenarians who are born outside of Mandaue city but spent majority of their lives in the city will now be beneficiary to the city government’s P100,000 cash gift.
This after the city council approved the amendment to City Ordinance no. 12-2011-633, otherwise known as the “Centenary Senior Citizen Award,” that previously grants the award and its corresponding P100,000 cash gift only to natural born Mandauehanons.
City Councilors Jimmy Lumapas and Cesar Cabahug Jr sponsored the amendatory ordinance, which was deliberated and approved during the 15th Sangguniang Panlungsod session last Friday, October 4, 2019.
The Centenary Senior Citizen Award has previously been conferred on a Filipino citizen, male or female, who has reached the age of 100 years old and has been born and raised in Mandaue City and still lives in the city at the time of the awarding.
In the amended ordinance, an applicant or nominee for the Centenary Senior Citizen Award can receive the award even if they “have been born elsewhere, provided, that He/She shall have live and/or spent majority of his/her life in Mandaue City.”
The amended ordinance did not, however, indicate the number of years that a centenarian has been living in the city for him or her to be considered to have “spent majority of his/her life in Mandaue City.”
Lumapas, reached for clarification on Saturday, October 5, told CDN Digital that the centenarian need not show proof of number of years since residency can be established through their voter’s records, matrimonial documents, other government transactions, property acquisition or disposal, among others.
According to the amended ordinance, an applicant for the centenarian award or his or her representative must provide the following proof: Legal documents providing the birth of the applicant or nominee (birth certificate, baptismal certificate); certification from the Barangay Captain as the applicant’s proof of residence; any proof providing that the applicant/nominee is alive, in case of application made by a representative or guardian; and a brief history on the life of the centenary senior citizen to whom recognition and honor is to be conferred./elb