The Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office Cordillera Administrative Region (DSWD FO CAR) has started the distribution of cash incentives to qualified centenarians in the Cordillera for the year 2022. 

The Department expects 90 centenarians to receive PhP100,000.00 cash incentives from the government for the current year. 

As of April 21, 2022, DSWD-CAR has already distributed a total of PhP 35.9 million worth of cash incentives to 359 centenarians since its implementation having Benguet with the highest number of grantees with 107, Abra with 74, Mt. Province with 70, Ifugao with 50, Kalinga with 39 and Apayao with 19. 

Out of the 359 grantees, 253 are female and 106 are male, 276 are living upon receipt of the grant, and 83 of them are posthumous centenarians wherein the cash gifts were given to the nearest surviving heir upon presentation of documentary requirements for deceased centenarians.  

Republic Act (RA) No. 10868 or the Centenarians Act of 2016 states that all Filipinos, who have reached 100 years old and above, whether residing in the Philippines or abroad shall be honored with a Letter of Felicitation from the President of the Philippines congratulating the celebrator for his or her longevity; and a Centenarian gift in the amount of PhP100,000.00

Per DSWD Memorandum Circular No. 04 series of 2017, identified centenarians in the community will undergo verification to be conducted by the LSWDO/OSCA Head in coordination with the Civil Society Organizations. During the verification process, the centenarian shall present proof that he/she is 100 years old such as a birth certificate or Philippine passport. In case said documents are not available, they may present their Senior Citizen’s Identification Card issued by the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) or any Philippine government-issued identification cards showing Filipino citizenship and year of birth. 

Considering the health condition of the centenarians, the DSWD opts to deliver the cash incentives house-to-house. This year, a t-shirt is also given to the centenarians with the statement “Centenarian-ak” which means “I am a Centenarian”. The t-shirt is part of the advocacy campaign of DSWD-CAR in acknowledging centenarians for their contributions to nation-building.  

For the first quarter of the year 2022, DSWD-CAR has already given the grant to 22 living centenarians from (6) Benguet, (7) Ifugao, (4) Abra, (2) Kalinga, and (3) Mt. Province. 

“Our centenarians have one way or another contributed to nation-building. The cash incentive is just a small thing to show our gratitude to them compared to the love, respect, and care their family can give them. Let us show them all the love we can and treasure the lessons we learned from them,” said Regional Director Arnel B. Garcia, CESO II. #DSWD FIELD OFFICE CAR, SOCIAL MARKETING UNIT, JEZEBEL L. GUMATAY with reports from Ms. Michelle Pinmilliw