The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will release a total of P299,200,000 this month for the cash incentives of 2,992 centenarians who were identified in 2016. Each will receive a cash gift amounting to P100,000.

“We are pleased to announce that our centenarians will finally receive their cash incentives this month. I know that they have been waiting for this since last year. The DSWD Central Office has already downloaded the funds to the field offices, which are now on the process of validating the needed documents for the fund’s release to the beneficiaries. We sincerely regret the delay, but we have had to work within established legal and budgetary processes which made it difficult to immediately expedite the release of the cash incentives for our senior citizens. We hope that they will finally be able to make good use of their well-deserved award, ” DSWD Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo said.

The breakdown of the 2,992 total centenarians recorded in 2016 are as follows:

  • 201 from National Capital Region (NCR);
  • 216 from Region I;
  • 25 from the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR);
  • 103 from Region II;
  • 342  from Region III;
  • 136 from Region IV-A;
  • 115 from Region IV-B;
  • 135 from Region V;
  • 360 from Region VI
  • 239 beneficiaries in Region VII;
  • 55 from Region VIII;
  • 17 from Region IX;
  • 176 from Region X;
  • 52 from Region XI ;
  • 314 from Region XII;
  • 84 from CARAGA;
  • 18 from Negros Island Region; and,
  • 230 from Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)

There are also 174 recorded centenarians who are living overseas.

As specified in Section 2 of Republic Act 10868 or the “Centenarians Act of 2016,” all Filipinos who reach the age of one hundred (100) years old, whether residing in the Philippines or abroad, shall be honored with a Letter of Felicitation from the President of the Philippines congratulating the celebrant for his or her longevity; and a centenarian gift in the amount of one hundred thousand pesos (₱100,000).

Moreover, the centenarians will receive a plaque of recognition and cash incentive from their respective city or municipal governments in appropriate ceremonies. The amount of the additional incentive shall be determined by the local government unit concerned.

Early release

Under the law, the awards and incentives are given to the centenarians on the first Sunday of October, declared as the National Respect for Centenarians Day (NRCD) in line with the Elderly Filipino Week celebration.

However, considering the age of the centenarians, the DSWD will release the cash gift to the identified beneficiaries earlier.

To date, out of the 2,992 total centenarians, 319 have already died. In Region VI, which recorded the highest number of beneficiaries totaling to 360, some 38 have reportedly died already.

Centenarians who died upon the effectivity of the law will be given a posthumous plaque of recognition together with the cash incentive to be received by their nearest surviving relative or family.

2017 beneficiaries

For 2017, there is an approved budget of Php100,000,000 covering 1,000 centenarians nationwide.

The Department is waiting for the release of Sub-Allotment Release Order from the Department of Budget and Management to facilitate the downloading of funds to field offices to commence with the payment of incentives to the 1,000 centenarians.

For 2017, the highest number of identified beneficiaries came from Region I with 221, followed by Region XII with 112 and Region III with 101. NCR has recorded 48 beneficiaries; CAR with 28; Region II with 36; and Regions IV-A and IV-B with 90 and 31 beneficiaries, respectively.

Region V has recorded 36 centenarians; Region VI with 26; Region VII with 46; Region VIII with 30; and Region IX with 20. Meanwhile, there are 62 beneficiaries in Region X; 38 in Region XI; 55 in CARAGA; 13 in NIR; and 7 in ARMM.

The document needed to avail of the incentive is the birth certificate of the centenarian or Philippine passport for those living overseas. If said documents are not available, the centenarian may present his or her senior citizen’s identification (ID) card or any other Philippine government-issued ID showing his or her citizenship and date of birth. ###