Anatomy of the Expanded Centenarian Act,(RA 11982)

Tia Walker, once said: “To care for those who once cared for us is one of the HIGHEST HONORS!”

Indeed, it is an honor to provide love, care and recognition to our beloved elderly, whether or not we are related to them by blood. But beyond the honor, caring for seniors is a responsibility, not only of the descendants, but particularly, by the State.

John Hoeven, had this to say: “Caring for the Seniors is perhaps the Greatest Responsibility we have. Those who walked before us have given so much and made possible the life we all enjoy.”

The recent bickering between the DSWD and the NCSC, regarding the late delivery of the P100,000.00 Centenarian cash gift, to the four (4) IPs form Capas, Tarlac, initiated by Sec. Rex Gatchalian, is appalling. Sec. Gatchalian, claims that the NCSC is ineffective and that the Expanded Centenarian program, should be retained by the DSWD. His statement is boastful.

Gatchalian’s comments against the NCSC, headed by Atty. Merceditas Gutierrez, is ungentlemanly, to say the least. His comment: “noong DSWD ang nag implement ng centenarian act, hindi kami nag require ng application, binago ng NCSC, kaya nagka problema” in that gist, is arrogant.

As a background, the original Senior Citizens Law, RA 7432, was promulgated in 1992. It is that law that provided the discount to SCs. RA 7432, did not create a national commission. What it created is the localized Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA).

On February 10, 2010, its second amendment, RA 9994, was signed into law by then PGMA. Still, the amending law did not create a national commission, it maintained the OSCA.

RA 9994, the Expanded Senior Citizens Act, provided the social pension, the distribution of a monthly stipend of P500.00, to Indigent Senior Citizens, the implementation of which was tasked to the DSWD.

Considering the enormity of the task, the law, RA 9994, created the National Coordinating and Monitoring Board (NCMB), charged of monitoring, if the implementation of programs for the senior citizens, including the distribution of the social pension program, is conducted efficiently, among others.

There is however a glitz. The NCMB, tasked to monitor the DSWD, is chaired/headed by the DSWD Secretary. Which is: the monitor will monitor the monitor (himself).

Notably, the DSWD, since the implementation of the social pension back in 2010 (15 years thence), is still distributing the current P54Billion, to the more than 4million indigent senior citizens, in cash. For unknown reasons, the department of Sec. Rex Gatchalian, continuously refuses to use other modes of delivery of the pension, like the use of cash cards, money transfer facilities and postal service.

There had been reports that some list of beneficiaries contain names of beneficiaries that have long been dead. It raises concern if the refusal of DSWD to use other modes of delivery, has something to do with such reports.

Going back to the centenarian issue of late delivery of the P100,000.00 cash gift of the Capas IPs, the comment of Sec. Rex Gatchalian, placing the blame to the fact that the NCSC, streamlined the system, is malicious.

Let me explain.

The original Centenarian Act of 2016 (RA 10868), provides the cash gift of P100,000.00 and a Felicitation Letter from the President, shall be awarded, exclusively to Filipino centenarians (100 years old). The DSWD, on the average, distributes centenarian cash gifts, to approximately 3,000 centenarians annually.

On February 24, 2024, the Expanded Centenarian Act of 2024 (RA 11982), was promulgated, amending the original RA 10868, providing P10,000.00, cash gift, to senior citizens, reaching the ages of 80, 85, 90 and 95 years old, on top of the 100-year olds. This program was transferred to the NCSC, pursuant to the provisions of the NCSC Act (RA11350) and the Expanded Centenarian Act (RA11982), itself.

Let’s consider the basics. Under the Centenarian Act (RA10868), with around 3,000 beneficiaries annually, the DSWD, did not promulgate guidelines that requires an “application form”. The DSDW, assigned two (2) staff per region, to “seek” (look for), these centenarians.

There were a lot of centenarians, who were denied the cash gift, because they were unable to produce PSA Birth Certificates. Considering that the DSWD did not promulgate the requirement of submission of an application form, there was no way for the poor centenarians to have a recourse.

On the other hand, when the Expanded Centenarian Act, (ECA RA11982), was promulgated, with the 300,000 expected beneficiaries, including the 3,000 or so of centenarians, the NCSC promulgated the Guidelines, that included the execution of an “Application Form”, to be pre-validated by the LGUs, prior to submission to the NCSC for confirmation.

When the program was finally transferred to the NCSC, the DSWD, in 2025, requested for the payment of a certain number of centenarians of prior year (2024 and before), that they failed to pay for whatever reason. “Sila nga, 3,000 annually lang ang bibigyan, marami pa ang hindi nabigyan kaya nakiusap sa NCSC na ang huli na ang magbigay, pagkatapos, ipagyayabang pa ni Rex Gatchalian na dapat na ibalik sa DSWD and ECA, dahil sa delayed ang pagbigay ng cash gift sa Capas 4!”

Allow me to stress: “Kung walang application form na hinihingi and NCSC, galing sa mga ‘beneficiaries’ ng ECA, hindi malalaman na ang delay sa pagbigay ng cash gift ay dahilan sa hindi kaagad naka gawa ng ‘endorsent’ ang LGU”.

It is bad-natured of Sec. Rex Gatchalian, to use the case of the Capas, Tarlac centenarians, to claim that the NCSC is not capable of doing its job.

Hiyang-hiya sayo ang mga senior citizens!.