The Makati City government gave P100,000 cash gifts to a former stockbroker and an entrepreneur who were named as the city’s 37th and 38th Centenarian awardees.
On Tuesday, Mayor Abigail Binay visited Alejandro Trinidad de Castro of Barangay San Lorenzo, who turned 100 last Feb. 27, and Magdalena Oribello Ollero of Barangay Cembo who turned 100 on Dec. 16 last year.
Binay visited their homes to personally award the P100,000 check and plaque of recognition from the city government, as tribute to their significant contributions to the development of Makati.
The two BLU card holders bring to 38 the total number of centenarians feted by the city government since January 2013, consisting of five men and 33 women.
Records from the Makati Social Welfare Department and Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs showed that De Castro, a native of Iba, Zambales, finished Banking and Finance at Far Eastern University.
De Castro worked in several banks before joining Manila Stock Exchange, and organized his own company in 1963 upon being invited to be a founding member and broker of the Makati Stock Exchange, where he still works. He married Salud Donato in 1956, and they have five children
Ollero has 11 children with her husband, a World War II veteran, and now has several grandchildren and great grandchildren. Apart from her buy-and-sell business, she also supplied meals to Army soldiers in Fort Bonifacio, and later put up her own sari-sari store.
Through City Ordinance No.
In 2014, nine centenarians were also awarded with P100,000. The awarding has been done quarterly on the recommendation of MSWD, to increase the chances of recipients being able to attend the ceremony themselves.
For the first quarter of 2015, three lady centenarians were awarded with P100,000 cash gift.
The honorees met the criteria set by the MSWD, the lead implementer of the BLU Card Program: 1) must be a Filipino citizen; 2) must be a bona fide resident of Makati; 3) must have reached 100 years old between January to December of the current year; and 4) must be a BLU Card and White Card holder for at least five years.
Other privileges accorded to Makati seniors include unlimited free entrance to premier cinemas in Makati; free tours in Metro Manila and other parts of the country through “Lakbay Saya”; free salon and spa services; cakes on their birthday and golden wedding anniversary; free medical care and hospitalization; and free and subsidized medicines for maintenance and various illnesses.
Elders are also exempted from the city’s number coding scheme, and upon their death, their beneficiaries are entitled to P3,000 burial assistance.
