I was recently surprised to learn that approximately P48 million in city funds, intended for the monthly allowances of senior citizens in Manila, remains with PayMaya and is still entangled in unresolved discussions between the local government and the company.
According to Mayor Honey Lacuna, the amount corresponds to the allowances of 8,000 senior citizens, each entitled to P6,000 annually. The PayMaya system, through which these seniors were supposed to claim their monthly allowances, was implemented under former Mayor Isko Moreno, who signed the deal with the digital payments company during his term.
Back then, the Office of Senior Citizens’ Affairs (OSCA) was overwhelmed with complaints from seniors who struggled to withdraw their allowances.
As of December last year, the city’s legal department had already taken steps to recover the money, but PayMaya insists that the seniors had already received their funds.
Due to mounting complaints from beneficiaries, the city administration decided to shift to personal payouts through barangays, responding to the seniors’ preference for a more accessible system. This move also reflects the administration’s trust in barangay officials in handling public funds.
Of course, many of the senior citizens encountered difficulties in withdrawing. The arrangement with PayMaya can be likened to a failed experiment, showing the former mayor’s weak understanding of the reality that many of our senior citizens are not familiar on the use of ATMs.
Not only that. Owing to age, a lot of them either misplace their ATM cards or forget their pin numbers. Looking for the nearest ATM machine was also a problem for many elderly.
Fortunately, under the current administration, the monthly allowances for seniors have been doubled from P500 to P1,000, and the payout process has been streamlined for their convenience.
OSCA head Elinor Jacinto also ensured that the registry was updated to exclude non-residents and deceased individuals since the allowance is meant only for actual Manila residents.
The allowance is not transferable to a senior’s dependents or relatives and it is just right that the funds of Manila be spent on its residents.
A lingering question remains: Why did Isko insist on providing allowances to non-Manila residents? Unless he is eyeing the presidency in 2028 and wants to appeal to voters outside the city, his reasoning is unclear—no other city follows this practice.
OSCA chief Jacinto also took exception to claims being made by politicians seeking the top post that the allowance of senior citizens that are not claimed on a given date from their barangays get forfeited.
Jacinto said that under the system introduced by Lacuna, the senior citizens may claim their allowances from their barangays for one week. After that, they may seek assistance from their barangays to give them a recommendation so they can get their unclaimed allowances within a period of another five days.
For bedridden seniors or those immobilized by illness, allowances are delivered directly to their homes by barangay officials. With these improvements, Manila’s senior citizens can now receive their much-needed assistance without unnecessary hassle. So, there!