Office of Minority Leader Edcel C. Lagman
03 August 2010
0918-9120137 / 0196-6406737

                                                  CENTENARIANS HONORED
                                                   IN LAGMAN’S PROPOSAL

“While we laud the youth as the hope of the future, let us commend centenarians as the fulfillment of the present.”

This was underscored by Minority Leader and Albay Representative Edcel C. Lagman, a staunch advocate of human development, after filing House Bill No. 834 which seeks to honor and grant additional benefits and privileges to Filipino centenarians and declares the 25th of September as National Respect for Centenarians Day.

“A major indicator of the level of a nation’s human development is life expectancy at birth,” Lagman said.

“We all aspire to live healthy, and consequently, long and productive lives. In a country where the average life expectancy is 71.6 years, living to be a centenarian, or three decades more than the average, is certainly a distinction worthy of emulation and public recognition,” Lagman emphasized.

The salient provisions of the proposed “Centenarians Act of 2010” are:

1)    On his or her 100th birthday, every Filipino residing in the Philippines or abroad shall be honored with a) a letter of felicitation from the President of the Philippines congratulating the celebrant for his or her longevity, and b) a centenarian’s gift in the amount of PhP100,000.000 chargeable against the contingent fund.

2)    As part of the annual Family Week celebration from September 19 – 28, the 25th of September is declared as National Respect for Centenarians Day during which all Filipinos who have turned 100 years old in the current fiscal year shall be awarded a plaque of recognition and a cash incentive by their respective city or municipal governments in appropriate ceremonies in addition to the Presidential recognition and the cash gift of PhP100,000.00.

3)   All living centenarians who reached their 100th birthday prior to the effectivity of the Act shall be honored on the celebration of the First National Respect for Centenarians Day or 120 days after the effectivity of the Act, whichever comes earlier, in appropriate ceremonies which shall be observed as a national event. They shall each be awarded a plaque of recognition and the PhP100,000.00 centenarian’s gift. In the same event posthumous plaques of recognition in honor of the deceased centenarians shall be presented to the nearest surviving relative of each centenarian or his/her representative.

4)    All centenarians shall be entitled to the grant of 50% senior citizen discount and exemption from the Value Added Tax (VAT), if applicable, on the sale of the goods and services from all establishments.