ALAMINOS, Laguna -- The local government distributed Thursday PHP1,500 each to 1,280 Senior Citizens of this town sans the pomp, pageantry and fanfare by politicians stealing the show for election mileage.
Alaminos Mayor Loreto M. Masa has directed both the concerned town officials of the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) and Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) not to entertain or invite political wannabes and aspiring politicians including him to the distribution of the cash grants to elderlies.
According to OSCA head Aida D. Domondon, the mayor has instructed them to strictly observe “no politicking” or at least avoid any “political color” which may arise from the handing over of financial assistance to the elders by politicians who want to take advantage of the occasion.
This is to observe transparency and propriety in government transactions that the funds earmarked for the senior citizens are from the government coffers and not from the politicians' pockets.
Domondon said that a Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 4-A regional office, in coordination with the OSCA and the MSWDO, turned over the social pensions to the 1,280 recipients from the town’s 15 barangays starting Wednesday at the multi-purpose center here.
She said that the social pensions for the senior citizens cover the 1st Quarter Calendar Year 2018 disbursements of the financial grants to qualified beneficiaries.
She also said that the pension beneficiaries were screened based on the DSWD criteria through the assistance of the MSWDO and the village officials in Alaminos' 15 barangays where four are classified as urban while 11 are rural barangays. (Ruben E. Taningco/PNA)
