A manifesto is being circulated that asked each of the 60,000 registered senior citizens in Cebu City to give up P2,000 of the P12,000 in cash assistance for the construction of the new city hospital.
Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama has admitted that the P2,000 deduction is too big for the seniors.
But it is also hard to believe that the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) will press on with the deduction of P100 million from the P720 million allocated for the seniors this year without the mayor’s blessing.
For one, the deduction will help Rama reduce the balance of payment to the seniors who are expecting the rest of the cash aid promised to them by the mayor before yearend.
It will also justify Rama’s position to convert the rest of the balance to non-material benefits since the P2,000 deduction will go to finance the new Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) project.
OSCA chief Rolando Llaguno said the manifesto being circulated is undergoing review, thus the P2,000 deduction may be lowered to a more acceptable amount by the city’s senior citizens.
How agreeable the seniors may be, depends on how organized they are. The general sentiment may be opposed to the P2,000 deduction but can they muster the numbers and the energy to oppose it?
And would the OSCA be agreeable to reducing the amount to be deducted?
The answer lies in Rama’s statement that the amount to be deducted won’t have to reach as high as P2,000.
But is it proper to chip off a portion of the cash assistance to the seniors to help fund the “world class” city hospital that Rama dreamed of?
After all, most of the seniors are unemployed and on maintenance medication. Most of them also depend on the cash assistance to buy not only medicines but to support their families.
Wasn’t it the reason the city provided financial assistance to the senior citizens because they needed it. Yet now, they are being asked to shell out a portion of that financial assistance.
Llaguno wants to invoke the spirit of volunteerism among the seniors by telling them that they stand to benefit from a new hospital that may cater to their needs.
But isn’t it the government’s responsibility to provide health benefits to its constituents?
Since a government hospital caters to the health needs of the poor, does it mean that the poor have to shoulder the maintenance and upkeep of the facility that they benefit from?
There is no doubt that a new CCMC will benefit the poor, not just the seniors, who cannot afford medical care from a private facility. But its reconstruction should not be passed on to the beneficiaries –just because they can benefit from it.
The judiciary in Cebu is also affected by the same 7.2 magnitude earthquake that severely damaged the old CCMC building last year.
But the Supreme Court didn’t ask the judges, court staff, lawyers, accused and complainants to chip in for the construction of the new Palace of Justice after the old one was declared unfit for occupancy following the damage it sustained after the earthquake.
It’s not wrong for government to ask donations from people. But volunteerism is an individual’s choice and not something imposed on them.
The senior citizens already contributed to the government during their productive years. So don’t burden them because they deserve to be given as much comfort as the state can provide for them.