The National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) on Tuesday, Feb. 27 said it aims to expedite the creation of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 11982, which will provide benefits to Filipinos who turn 80, 85, 90, and 95 years old.
“Gagawin po agad namin ‘yung implementing rules and regulations. Kapag nagawa na yung IRR, ipa-publish ito sa Official Gazette natin (We will immediately craft the implementing rules and regulations. Once the IRR is done, it will be published in our Official Gazette),” said NCSC Commissioner Ricardo Rainier Cruz III during a televised public briefing.
“Pero nag-usap kami kanina ng opisina namin. Sabi namin papaspasan namin itong paggawa ng IRR at sana makahabol po kami sa budget call ng DBM mga last day daw po ay April 30 ngayong taon na ito. Kailangan ma-submit na namin ‘yung IRR para umabot po next year ang pondo ng batas na ‘to (But we discussed this earlier in our office. We agreed that we will speed up the creation of the IRR and hopefully we can meet the DBM’s budget call deadline, which is said to be April 30 this year. We need to submit the IRR so that the funds of this law can be used next year),” Cruz added.
RA 11982 expands the coverage of RA 10868, or the Centenarians Act of 2016, to include all Filipinos, whether residing in the Philippines or abroad to be a recipient of a cash gift worth P10,000 upon reaching the age of 80 and every five years thereafter, or until the age of 95.
“Napakalaking tulong nito kasi una ni-rerecognize dati ‘yong mga 100 years old. Pero ngayon, pagdating ng 80 eh mayroon ka na agad makukuha na ayuda, hindi mo na kailangan hintayin ‘yung 100 years old (This is a huge help because previously, only the 100-year-olds were recognized. But now, when you reach 80, you have immediate access to assistance. You don’t have to wait until you reach 100 years old),” Cruz said.
“Ito po napakalaking bagay po ito sa mga senior natin dahil makakatulong na rin po ito sa pambili ng gamot at saka sa mga ibang pangangailangan po ng ating mga senior (Our seniors will benefit greatly from this since it will help with their medications and other needs),” he added.
Meanwhile, the NCSC commissioner urged senior citizens to register with the Elderly Data Management System.
RA 11982 also establishes an Elderly Management System to identify senior citizens who are eligible to receive benefits.
“Hinihikayat po namin lahat po ng senior citizens na magparegister po don at covered na po ng batas itong aming registration system (We encourage all senior citizens to register as our registration system is now mandated by law),” Cruz said.
“Ito po ‘yung inilunsad ng NCSC two years ago. Ito po ‘yung online registration ng NCSC kung saan iniimbitahan namin lahat ng senior citizens na mag-register online po sa NCSC. This is what NCSC launched two years ago. This is NCSC’s online registration where we invite all senior citizens to register online at NCSC),” he added.
Cruz said approximately 4.3 million of the more than 10 million senior citizens in the country are now listed in the online database of the NCSC.