QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista has signed into law an ordinance granting a P5,000 death benefit assistance to the bereaved families of a registered senior citizen.
The assistance shall be given by the city government on top of the P2,000 death benefit assistance provided for under Republic Act 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2000.
To cover payments for the grant, the city government will use a portion of the one-percent budget allocation it has set aside for programs and projects that will benefit the elders.
Under Ordinance No. 2544, only the legitimate surviving relative of the deceased shall be entitled to receive the cash assistance.
In case the deceased has no spouse and is not married, the assistance shall be limited to relatives in the following degree of kinship—children, parents, brothers or sisters, grandparents, grandchildren, uncles and aunts.
To facilitate the grant, the Office for Senior Citizens Affairs requires claimants to present the identification card that OSCA issued prior to the death of their relative, and a photocopy of the death certificate.
The ordinance, principally authored by Councilor Roger Juan, carries a fine of P5,000 and imprisonment not exceeding one year or both, subject to the discretion of the court, “to any public officer who will be employing fraud or disguise to take advantage of the city government’s program.”
Based on OSCA records, Quezon City has about 400,000 registered senior citizens.
