The chair of the city council’s committee on senior citizens on Thursday pushed for the investigation of the alleged anomaly in the distribution of cash assistance to the elderly.

Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr. called for a probe as he continued to receive reports and complaints about senior citizens failing to get their cash assistance from the city government.

The latest of which, he said, were the cases of two senior citizens from Barangay Mambaling who reported to his office that they failed to get anything during the last distribution of cash aid.

Each senior citizen in the city gets a cash assistance of PHP3,000 quarterly or PHP12,000 annually.

“This problem is the same problem that we heard before. Why is this problem linger(ing) on without punishing anyone?” Alcover said in an interview.

Distribution of cash aid to the city’s 90,000 elderly citizens is done through the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA).

Alcover said the matter should not be left unaddressed and officials and personnel behind the anomaly must be held accountable.

Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera echoed the concern raised by Alcover, saying she supports the call for an investigation.

“Cases should be filed against whoever is liable because this is too much,” Pesquera said.

In March, the city’s senior citizens got a total of PHP271 million in cash assistance.

Alcover said he wants the probe done before the next cash aid distribution in June. (PNA)

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