I FEEL SORRY for the 178,759 senior citizens in Manila after the release of their monthly cash allowances had to be deferred due to a letter from candidate Alex Lopez raising so many questions about it.
Secretary to the Mayor Bernie Ang said records from the city legal office showed Lopez had written the office of Mayor Isko Moreno questioning if the said financial aid to senior citizens filed for exemption from Comelec Resolution 1047; what the basis of the city government is for giving such benefits; if it had been included in the 2022 budget; what projects did the city government asked to be exempted from said resolution; what the status of the application for exemption is and where the budget for the said benefits came from. Comelec Resolution 10747 prohibits public spending during the election period.
Because of the letter of Lopez, the city legal office deemed it best to “err on the side of caution” and recommended for the Office of Senior Citizens’ Affairs (OSCA) to defer the distribution of the senior citizens’ benefits while entertaining the queries of Lopez, even if the funds are already there for distribution at any time.
Elinor Jacinto, OSCA’s officer-in-charge had asked Secretary Ang to help OSCA get an “exemption” from the Commission on Elections to continue the regular program of giving the monthly cash allowance and birthday cakes to senior citizens along with the cash gift for centenarians or those reaching 100 years old.
Jacinto stated in her letter to Ang that the funds are ready for the distribution of P1,500 each for the 178,759 senior citizens covering their first quarter allowance along with the usual birthday cakes and P100,000 cash gift for centenarians but the said distribution had to be put off to give way to the queries of Lopez and his demand that a clearance be first secured from the Comelec before the local government resumes the benefits.
Ang wrote Comelec asking for the senior citizens’s ayuda to be exempted from the ban, stating that senior citizens are expecting their allowances and need them to augment their maintenance requirements.
Atty. Gregorio Bonifacio, Comelec Election Officer IV, replued that the said benefits may be given provide they are not covered by Comelec Resolution 10747.
Since the answer did not categorically state whether or not the said benefits may continue to be given, Jacinto sought the legal opinion of City Legal Officer Atty. Emeterio Moreno, Jr. , who said that even if the senior citizen benefits may be considered as “routine and normal expenses” that have been regularly given since 2020 and thus should not be considered covered by the Comelec prohibition, it would be best to write the Comelec law department and ask for a certification.
“Nonetheless, considering the criminal liability for violation of the law and the letter received from… Lopez, as we all should err in the side of caution, this office …recommends that we write the Comelec law department to secure a certification that these activities are not covered by the prohibition and defer the release and continuation of these activities pending a favorable response from the Comelec,” Moreno stated in his letter-reply to Jacinto.
The City Legal Officer advised Jacinto to defer the distribution of the cash benefits for the city’s elderly population, just to give way to the queries of Lopez that necessitated exchanges of communication with the Comelec.
In the face of this, Mayor Isko Moreno and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna have tasked Sec. Ang to do everything possible to secure a swift and hopefully, favorable response from the Comelec, considering the urgency of the need on the part of the senior citizens of Manila.
Obviously, the hapless senior citizens are being adversely affected by the ugly side of politics. Clearly, the move of Lopez would benefit no one but himself .
The senior citizens who are being deprived of their regular benefits all in the name of selfish political grandstanding.
If Lopez indeed deeply cares for the senior citizens of Manila, may we know what he had done for them specially in the wake of the pandemic? Did he send them help in any way amid their lack of livelihood and means to buy their maintenance medicines?
One cannot reason out that he is not in government. All of us can extend help even as private citizens if we want to. This is a classic case of “kung gusto, maraming paraan, kung ayaw maraming dahilan.”
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