Eighty-five-year-old Daniela Rodriguez of Zamboanguita town receives her P10,000 cash gift from National Commission of Senior Citizens Officer in Charge and Commissioner Mary Jean Loreche during the ceremonial payout held on Feb. 27, 2025 in the same municipality. (KAT/PIA7-Negros Oriental)
ZAMBOANGUITA, Negros Oriental (PIA) — The Expanded Centenarians Act of 2024 will serve as “bragging rights” for Filipino senior citizens who have reached the “milestone age.”
According to National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) Commissioner Reymar Mansilungan, the law aims to advocate for healthy living among Filipinos.
“Ma-e-encourage mo siya na mabuhay ng malinis, kumain ng tama, matulog ng maaga para marating niya ang 80 years old. Its bragging rights. Hindi po ito pera lang. Let’s do things that will prolong our lives,” said Mansulingan during the cash gift distribution held recently at the Zamboanguita Municipal Gymnasium.
(You can encourage senior citizens to live healthier, eat right, and sleep early so they can reach 80 years old. It’s a form of bragging right. This is not just about the money. Let’s do things that will prolong our lives.)
Signed by Pres. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Feb. 26, 2024, the Expanded Centenarians Act (R.A. 11982) grants P10,000 to seniors aged 80, 85, 90, and 95 while maintaining the P100,000 cash gift for centenarians.
Fourteen senior citizens from Zamboanguita and Dauin towns were the first batch in the province to receive the P10,000 cash gift from the NCSC.
NCSC Officer-in-Charge and Commissioner Mary Jean Loreche said a total of 93 beneficiaries in the province are qualified to receive the cash aid, of which three are centenarians.
“Sa buong Negros Oriental for the first payout mayroon tayong 93 na bibigyan and tatlo dito ang centenarians,” Loreche said
(We have 93 listed beneficiaries in Negros Oriental for the first payout. Three of them are centenarians.)
Loreche said senior citizens must coordinate with the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) in their respective areas in order to be listed.
The cash gift will be given after they have celebrated their birthday.
One of the senior citizens who received the cash gift, Daniela Delmo Rodriguez, 85, is thankful for the cash gift she received from NCSC.
She said she will use the cash to buy her personal necessities.
“Katong nagmugna niining buhata ako pasalamatan og dako. Mopalit ko og akong pagkaon, gatas, sa kaugalingong tambal,” Rodriguez said.
(I thank the people behind this. I will use this to buy food, especially milk and for my own medicines.) (RAL/PIA7-Negros Oriental)
