CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has ordered a review of the list of beneficiaries of the city’s cash aid program for senior citizens which he started in 2008.
Osmeña said he wanted to make sure that only registered city voters avail of the program.
“If I had to, the new residents of the city who are registering as senior citizens should be eliminated from the list. I don’t intend to cut down what the senior citizens are receiving but I am conducting a review of our seniors list,” he said.
The Cebu City government is giving out P12, 000 annual assistance to its elderly residents. The city has so far released half of the amount. The remaining balance will be released on a staggered basis until December.
Osmeña said that about 27, 000 of the about 60, 000 registered seniors avail of the city’s cash aid program even if they continue to vote in their hometowns.
“In 2008, you are a voter of Cebu City and you’re a senior citizen. That’s okay. But if you are not a voter (back) in 2008 and you are a senior citizen, you are a second priority (of the city). I do not know where this additional 27, 000 senior citizen came from,” he said.