Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay has ordered the early distribution of yearend cash gifts and Christmas gift bags to more than 76,890 senior citizens of the city.
The city government started distributing the yearend cash gifts, ranging from P1,500 to P5,000, and the Pamaskong Handog gift bags from mid-November until Dec. 9 this year.
Binay said she ordered the early release of the incentives to the city’s elderly residents to get ahead of the holiday rush and ensure there will be enough city hall personnel to attend to them.
“We have begun distributing the cash gift and Christmas gift bags in advance for the convenience of our senior citizens. We want all concerned city personnel on hand to provide them the needed assistance in claiming their benefits from the city,” the city chief executive said.
For this year, the city allocated a total of P331.7 million for the cash gift to seniors and centenarians under the Blu Card Program, which includes P142.5 million for the yearend cash gift.
Binay said Blu Card holders will receive their yearend cash gift corresponding to their age categories as follows: 60-69 years old, P1,500; 70-79 years old, P2,000; 80-89 years old, P2,500; and 90 years old and above, P5,000.
Blu Card holders who have claimed their cash gift on the scheduled date and time at the designated venue have also been given their Pamaskong Handog ticket so they could immediately exchange it for a bagful of giveaways.
Each bag given to the elderly contains a Makatizen shirt, three cans each of plain canned tuna, flavored canned tuna, corned beef, a can of luncheon meat, two cans of sausage, a pack of spaghetti sauce, a pack of pasta, a can of fruit cocktail, a can of condensed milk, a slab of cheese, and a pack of cream.
Based on the third quarter report of the Makati Social Welfare Department (MSWD), the city has awarded P100,000 cash gift to eight centenarians, bringing the total to 59 recipients since the program was launched in 2012.
Some 51,143 celebration cakes and 13,491 new movie booklets have also been distributed during the said period. Free salon and spa services were also availed of by some 5,161 senior citizens, of which 3,860 came from District 1 and 1,301 from District 2.
A total of 1,347 beneficiaries of deceased Blu Card members have received burial assistance amounting to P3,000, while 4,763 new Blu Cards have been issued to new senior citizens.