Leila De Lima Wants Early Cash Gifts For 80, 90-Year-Olds
LEILA DE LIMA – Opposition senator Leila De Lima asked the Senate to approve the bill seeking to grant senior citizens early cash gifts.
Following a previous article, Senator Bong Revilla filed a bill expanding the benefits of 80 and 90-year-olds. The bill amends the Centenarian law.
Revilla’s Senate Bill 1319 allows 80 and 90-year-olds to avail of the benefits from the government much earlier. “We are pushing for the passage of the bill because we want our elderlies to enjoy their benefits the government is giving them,” he said.
Based on a report from GMA News, senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, and Leila de Lima also authored Senate Bill 1319. On Saturday, De Lima called on the Senate to approve the bill that aims to grant senior citizens P10,000 when they reach 80 and 90 apart from the P100,000 cash they receive when they reach 100 years old.
The politician who chairs the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development sponsored the bill on February 26.
According to the report, Senator De Lima stated the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) “consistently failed” to reach the target of giving 1000 Filipino centenarians as most of them do not reach this age.
“Even more, unfortunately, many, if not most, of our centenarians are already too old, sickly, and impaired to properly enjoy the blessings of the Centenarian Law,” De Lima said.
Based on the report, Leila De Lima also cited the World Health Organization (WHO) data that was published in 2018 saying the Filipino’s average life span was 69.3.
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