By Brian Campued
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through the National Commission for Senior Citizens (NCSC), is expediting the grant of centenarian incentives to four elderly Aetas in Capas, Tarlac, who were not able to receive their cash gifts in 2024.
In a press release Monday, DSWD Spokesperson ASec. Irene Dumlao said the DSWD Field Office 3 – Central Luzon already reached out to the centenarians after being featured in a viral video on Facebook.
In the video, the elderly Aetas said they have yet to receive their centenarian incentives due to being considered “overaged.”
According to NCSC Chairperson, Atty. Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez, the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) at the local government of Capas have officially endorsed the elderly Aetas’ documents to the commission.
“Di pa man natin natatanggap ang application ng ating apat na Aetas, sinabihan ko na ang Komisyon na ihanda na agad ang cash gift para sa kanila. I will guarantee you that,” Gutierrez said in a radio interview.
In a separate press release issued Feb. 7, the NCSC assured that they were addressing the backlogs in the rollout of cash gifts to qualified centenarians from DSWD, the previous implementing agency of the Republic Act (RA) No. 11982 or the Expanded Centenarians Act.
The implementation of the law was placed under the NCSC in January 2025.
The Centenarians Act of 2016 provides all Filipinos who reach 100 years old, whether residing in the Philippines or abroad, with a Letter of Felicitation from the President of the Philippines and a centenarian gift amounting to P100,000.
RA 11982 expanded the scope of the law, which now provides P10,000 cash gifts to Filipino senior citizens upon reaching ages 80, 85, 90, and 95.
As the P100,000-grant is still being processed by NCSC, Dumlao said that P10,000 financial assistance each was first distributed to the four elderly Aetas upon the instruction of DSWD Sec. Rex Gatchalian.
She added that the DSWD will continue to coordinate with the NCSC and the OSCAs of local government units to ensure that centenarians will receive rightful benefits on time.
“We are in close coordination, especially now na under sila ng supervision of DSWD. We are reviewing the strategies that we have employed in the previous years, and we are explaining to them how these have worked with the betterment of the elderly sector, so, titingnan natin kung anong maipagpapatuloy.
Sa DSWD kasi mayroong tayong database, kaya napu-forecast natin yung mga senior citizens na aabot na sa 100 years old. So, bago pa man mag-submit ng aplikasyon yung mga elderly eh alam na po natin kung sino yung aabot ng 100 years old. Kaya nga sabi ko, kapag mayroong mga documents na naisumite sa atin, alam na po natin. Nagsasagawa na tayo ng immediate verification,” Asec. Dumlao said.
In 2025, the NCSC has already distributed more than P2.8 billion in cash gifts, including payments to beneficiaries whose releases were delayed in 2024.
Meanwhile, the agency is planning to implement a pilot bank transfer system in the first quarter of 2026 to distribute cash gifts to eligible senior citizens.
-jpv
