Ricky Poca
Cebu City’s senior citizens should now give back to the city government by understanding its financial status, especially after Mayor Michael Rama announced that he is contemplating giving them P6,000 in financial assistance instead of the P12,000 he promised earlier.
The mayor, in consultation with the Office of Senior Citizens’ Affairs, said he realized that he could also provide the other half of P6,000 in kind because apparently the cash assistance does not all go to buying medicine for seniors but to groceries or to their dependents.
So for the elderly to maximize the aid they should also be given goods like medicine and groceries.
What senior citizens receive is given gratis et amore or out of the goodness of the heart of the city government. The aid is not a right but a privilege granted by the city government. Changes in the form of assistance are for the good of the seniors.
It is also correct for the city government to guard against abuses committed by some senior citizens who are not really city residents but come from the province. They attempt to reside in the city and register as voters to qualify for the financial assistance.
It is the city government and the people’s right to demand honesty from those claiming financial aid because the money comes from the hard earned income of people of the city of Cebu.
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Last Saturday, the Barangay Councilors League of the Philippines held elections at the White Gold House with its incumbent president, councilman Franklin Ong seeking reelection with a challenge from councilman Raymond Garcia.
Garcia’s team won all league positions in the same manner that Team Zafra won all positions in the Cebu City Association of Barangay Councils.
Both Zafra and Garcia are allies of Mayor Rama, who now controls both organizations, proving that his reelection as mayor in May 2013 was no fluke.
I also heard that the election protest filed by former congressman Tomas Osmeña against Rama yielded a result favorable to the mayor.
Note that all the cases filed by Osmeña resulted in a triumph for Rama. But this is no time to gloat because there are many things to do for the public and of course, there will be more challenges to confront in the future.
One always has to be because no one can tell the future. Only God knows.
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The Supreme Court (SC) recently declared the pork barrel system unconstitutional. So how come it resurfaced in the 2014 budget?
Some members of Congress even realigned money as cash assistance to local government units.
Sen. Jose Estrada realigned P100 million of his pork barrel to the city of Manila, whose mayor is his father, Joseph.
He just violated a decision of the highest court of the land.
I hope someone or any progressive group would file a case against him and at least eight other senators before the Supreme Court.