Manila hikes seniors’ cash allowance to P1,000

The local government of Manila announced a new increase in the monthly allowance for senior citizens, effective January 2025, raising it from P500 to P1,000.

Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna made the announcement, stating that over 200,000 senior beneficiaries are set to receive a total of P3,000 each during the quarterly payout in March 2025.

“We are about action and results. Others only offer promises and empty talk. While they are still thinking about it, we already have results because we have increased the senior citizens’ allowance,” Lacuna said in Filipino after a fellowship night with all 896 Manila Barangay Senior Presidents in celebration of International Elderly Week.

“We have also made the distribution process for senior citizens’ allowances more systematic and efficient. There has been significant improvement since I became Mayor. Now, updates are more frequent, and the requirements are more organized to ensure that only legitimate beneficiaries receive the allowance,” she added.

“To ensure that public funds are not wasted, we regularly clean the list to remove those who have passed away, relocated to other provinces or countries, or have fraudulent documents,” Lacuna assured Manileños.

Lacuna emphasized that her administration has “improved and strengthened its social amelioration programs to ensure that all public funds are spent properly and wisely, with measures in place to prevent graft and fraud.”

The increase in the senior citizen allowance is funded through City Ordinance 9075, which covers Manila’s budget for fiscal year 2025.

Meanwhile, the senior citizen partylist praised Lacuna’s initiative, calling it welcome news for all seniors in Manila.

“I commend Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna and her administration, especially the capital city’s OSCA, for increasing the monthly allowance for senior citizens to P1,000 starting January 2025 from the current P500,” stated Rodolfo Ordanes, a representative of the Senior Citizen Partylist.

Manila is now aligned with the P1,000 indigent seniors’ pension in the national budget through the DSWD, making Mayor Lacuna’s decision significant. She has set an example for other mayors to follow if they have the local government revenues to support their senior citizens.

Manila and Mayor Lacuna have demonstrated their deserving status for DSWD recognition, with a high implementation rate (over 98 percent) of the national indigent seniors’ social pension.