Congress earmarks ₧254 million cash gift for 2023 centenarians
CONGRESS—AND in particular, the House of Representatives— is invested with the “power of the purse.” The representatives of the people are the ones who approve the country’s budget, including the appropriation of funds for a specific purpose—like benefits for the elderly.
Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr., House appropriations committee vice chairperson, said on Monday that Congress has set aside P254 million to pay for the P100,000 one-time cash gift given to Filipinos who will reach the ripe age of 100 years old in 2023. We have earmarked money for our centenarians, he said.
“We in Congress are absolutely determined to sustain the annual funding required for the P100,000 cash gift of every Filipino who turns 100 years old,” Campos said.
The move was in response to an earlier request of the Department of Social Welfare and Development for funding of the centenarians’ cash benefits in 2023.
DSWD said there are 662 Filipino centenarians in 2023, or those who are 100 years old and older who are entitled under the lawtoreceivep 100,000 cash gift from the government.
“Since 2017, we have been setting aside an aggregate of over P1 billion, including the sum allocated for this year, to pay for the cash grant of more than 10,000 Filipino centenarians,” Campos said.
The P254 million earmarked for the Centenarian’s Gift in the 2023 General Appropriations Act is 43 percent higher than last year’s P178 million, according to Campos.
Under the Centenarians Law of 2016, or Republic Act No. 10868, every Filipino who reaches 100 years old, whether residing in the Philippines or abroad, is entitled to receive the P100,000 tax-free gift plus a congratulatory letter from the President.
Funding is lodged in the annual budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, which pays out the gift.
The gift is on top of all other rewards that centenarians may receive from their respective local governments or from other sources.
In Makati City, for instance, the local government pays on its own a separate P100,000 one-time cash gift to every resident centenarian.
Thus, a Makati resident who reaches 100 years old receives a combined cash gift of P200,000 —P100,000 from the DSWD and P100,000 from the city government.
Since 2016, Makati has so far rewarded 79 resident centenarians with P100,000 each.