Marikina elderly get P1,000 birthday gift

STARTING this year, senior citizens in the country’s shoe capital will receive cash gifts on their birthdays.

Mayor Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro said senior citizens who had their birthdays in January each got a P1,000 cash gift from the city government.

“We want to show to our elderly constituents who are celebrating their birthdays that they are remembered,” he told

“This [cash gift] might seem a small amount, but what is important here is that we remember our senior citizens and make them feel they are important,” the mayor added.

The city council passed an ordinance providing a birthday cash gift for every senior citizen of Marikina last year and has allocated a budget for it. Teodoro, however, did not disclose the exact amount of the budget.

To claim their birthday cash gifts, senior citizens only have to of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA), Teodoro said.

“Apart from that [cash gifts], we also have our regular health program for our senior citizens. There are doctors and geriatric specialists assigned to them who will regularly check their health conditions. We have also free maintenance medicines for them,” he said.

Teodoro said that the city government has opened a healthy lifestyle center for senior citizens.

“Not only that, we also teach them how to maintain a healthy body,” he added. “Our elderly trips during summer, which they organize and the city is fully supporting them with this endeavor.”

Marikina City has a total of 27,000 senior citizens.