Congress boosts centenarians cash gift fund
CONGRESS has boosted to P254 million the sum meant to pay for the P100,000 one-time cash gift of Filipino centenarians, Makati City Representative Luis Campos Jr. said on Monday.
“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, House Appropriations Committee vice chairperson, said as he thanked the leadership of Speaker Martin G. Romualdez for ensuring funding requirement for centenarians.
“In fact, since 2017, we’ve set 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 (GAA) is 43% higher than last year’s P178 million, according to Campos.
Under the Centenarians Law of 2016, or Republic Act (RA) No. 10868, every Filipino who reaches 100 years old, whether residing in the Philippines or abroad, is entitled to receive a 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 (DSWD), 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.
