Not all Cebu City seniors got their P2T

Some senior citizens did not receive yesterday their cash assistance from the Cebu City government.

Domingo Chavez, Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs head, said there were those who presented invalid identification cards while the names of others did not coincide with the payroll.

“Sa pagkakaron, naay mga nanganhi kay lagi wala sila ka claim kay ang ilang ID kay sa panahon pa ni (former mayor Tomas) Osmeña, unya bag-o na baya atong mayor karon, so kinahanglan nga bag-o with the signature sa atong mayor,” he said.

He, however, could not give yet the total numbers of senior citizens who did not get their cash assistance since the distribution was still ongoing yesterday.

He said that as of noon, there were already four elderly individuals who went to the OSCA office to complain that their names did not match with that in the payroll.

“Nagkadeperensya sa payroll. Ilahang name naay sayop. Karon pa nang Martes or Miyerkules sila matagaan kay i-check pa na namo,” Chavez said.

He pointed out that there was a mistake during the encoding of the citizens name that was why this concern occurred.

Damiana J. Cahambing, a Camp Marina, Kalunasan resident, was not able to claim her P2,000 since her name was wrongly spelled.

The city has allocated this year P720 million as cash aid for 60,000 senior citizens.

“Niadto ko sa among barangay kay mo-claim na unta, na-wrong spelling man sa listahan. Maayo nalang unta to makaabag sa galastohan ang ilang ihatag,” she said.

Sofronio T. Gador of Barangay Camputhaw, too, could not avail of the cash assistance because of an invalid ID.

“Pag-adto nako sa sa among barangay kay moclaim na unta, ana sila na invalid daw kay pag-time pa ning Osmeña akong ID,” he said.

Chavez said that the new ID must have the signature of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama. He said Gador can claim the cash aid as soon as his new ID gets validated.

Chavez said the concerns would be brought up during the Senior Citizens Council meeting this Monday. Rama, City Councilor Lea O. Japson, two nongovernment organization representatives, and other concerned personnel would also be there to tackle the problem to prevent them from happening again.

Based on the guidelines, cash assistance unclaimed after the given 15 days grace period from the scheduled distribution date will automatically revert to the city’s General Fund. – Odessa O. Leyson, USJ-R Masscomm Intern/RHM