Two proposed ordinances of the Cebu City Council should give Cebu City residents serious pause if they who have yet to see for themselves any significant improvement in the city government’s services to them.
One proposal raises cash assistance to persons with disabilities from P5,000 to P12,000 a year. The second proposal seeks to grant P5,000 annual cash aid to solo parents.
The first ordinance was met with some objections from persons with disabilities (PWD) groups who questioned a provision requiring a caregiver to be a registered voter in Cebu City before he or she can avail of the cash aid in behalf of the PWD, who isn’t a registered voter in the city.
This is quite confusing. It was made further complicated by an argument of Cebu City-based PWD groups that they may be unable to receive such aid because several of them hire caregivers from outside the e city.
Since when do caregivers become de facto beneficiaries in behalf of PWDs? Unless the provision stipulates that they become so after being authorized by the PWD himself/herself, this should be clarified.
The second ordinance authored by Councilor Gerardo Carillo also has some issues, chief of which is the timing of the effectivity of the grant to solo parents.
Again it centered on the qualification of beneficiaries who should be registered voters of the city.
The ordinace requires he or she should have voted in three past elections before qualifying.
When is the reckoning point?
Councilor Margot Osmeña, who said benefits can’t be applied with retroactive effect, says the voter should have voted in the 2016, 2019 and 2022 elections to qualify.
Carillo, the author of the ordinance, said this is a misiniterpretation.
The requirement of voting status is plainly politically motivated.
There’s a practical side to the criteria as well as it partly stems the tide of seniors, solo parents and PWDs who may flock to Cebu City attracted by the freebies.
But we have to ask whether there will come a time when the city government will be overburdened by cash grants to every disadvantaged sector.
A balancing act is needed to ensure the generosity does not sacrifice services and projects owed to the majority of those whose taxes are being used to pay for these stipends.
If the Cebu City government decides to allocate cash aid, it should do so out of a sincere desire to help, without factoring in a beneficiary usefulness in bringing in votes.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
