Around 8,000 living Filipino centenarians as of the 2010 census of the National Statistics Office (NSO) are to benefit from the “Centenarians Act” which is principally authored by Rep. Edcel C. Lagman once House Bill No. 834 is enacted into law, which is expected to be soon.

            Under the proposed law, a Filipino who reaches the 100 years of age is entitled to a cash gift of P100,000 from the national government and such other cash rewards which concerned local government units may optionally grant.

            The Senate has adopted Lagman’s bill with minor amendments as reflected in Senate Bill No. 3328 which it approved on third reading on 28 January 2013.

          Lagman has manifested his conformity to the Senate amendments which (1) increased from 50% to 75% the discount on goods and services which centenarians could avail of; and (2) tasked a National Committee to validate the true birth year of a centenarian applicant and release the centenarian gift of P100,000 within 30 days from the said validation.

          Lagman’s agreement to the Senate amendments foreclosed the holding of a bicameral conference committee and would expedite the process of enacting the “Centenarian’s Act”.