The House of Representatives on Monday, Jan. 31 unanimously passed on third and final reading the legislative proposal that proposes to grant centenarians reach 101 years old a P1 million cash incentive.
House Bill 10647 gained the vote of all 193 congressmen who were present during the virtual regular session. No negative vote or abstention was registered.
Aside from centenarians, HB 10647 also extends cash benefits for any Filipino who reaches the age of 80, 85, 90 and 95.
Under the bill, octogenarians will receive P25,000 when they reach the age of 80 and 85 while nonagenarians will also get the same amount when they celebrate their 90th and 95th birthdays.
The bill proposes to amend Republic Act No. 10868 or the Centenarians Act of 2016 that offers a P100,000 cash incentive to Filipinos who reach the age of 100.
Authors of the bill sought the amendments as they noted that only a few Filipinos are able to live until 100 years.
Since the law was implemented in 2016, only 205 Filipinos were able to avail of the P100,000 cash reward on their 100th birthday.
HB 10647 consolidated 29 separate bills filed separately by at least 50 authors. Among them are Deputy Speaker Lito Atienza (Buhay Partylist); Reps. Maria Fe Abunda (Lone District, Samar); Raul “Boboy” Tupas (5th District, Iloilo); Julienne “Jam” Baronda (Lone District, Iloilo City); Diego “Nonoy C. Ty (1st District, Misamis Occidental); Ma. Lourdes T. Arroyo (5th District, Negros Occidental); Carlito Marquez (1st District, Aklan); Jocelyn Fortuno, 5th District, Camarines Sur); Mark Go (Lone District, Baguio City); Dahlia Loyola (5th District, Cavite) and the late Francisco Datol (Senior Citizens Partylist).
Aside from the cash incentives, the recipient will be honored with a letter of felicitation from the President of the country each time the reward is sent by government.
Under the bill the National Commission of Senior Citizens will be the lead agency that will implement provisions of the measures once enacted into law.
Citing data from he Philippine Statistics Authority, Arroyo said at least 900,000 Filipinos belong to the age group of 80 years old and above.
Marquez, on the other hand, noted that with Filipinos having a life expectancy of 69.4 years, only a handful reach the centenarian age.
Out of 100 million Filipinos in the country, only 205 were able to receive the P100,000 granted under the law.
Fortuno, chairperson of the House Committee on Bicol Recovery and Economic Development, underscored the need for government to extend to Filipinos in advanced ages all the financial help it can offer to make life easier and more comfortable for them.
In the explanatory note of his bill, Datol, former chairman of the senior citizens panel, said very few Filipinos live up to 100 years, with some of them unable “to fully appreciate and enjoy the value of money and accolade.” He called for the grant of cash benefits even before a person reaches 100 years but has breached the 90 years old mark.
Datol succumbed to COVID 19 in 2020, the first congressman to die from the dreaded disease. He was 71.