ONLY one
word could aptly describe it: Frustration.
Because
suddenly, the supposed money to complete the construction of the social center
for the Senior Citizens of Larap is no more – apparently all of the PHP250,000,
which Vice-President Jejomar Binay has allotted for this project as early as
May this year.
Binay is in
charge of a national government office that looks after the welfare of senior
citizens across the country.
The sad
news, or to be more exact – bad news - was relayed to the Larap seniors: that
the 1% allocation from this year’s budget where the funds for the social center
project would be sourced has been exhausted. And that new allotment from next
year’s budget would be available only during the first quarter of 2013,
February to be exact.
Mrs Josepina
Francisco, president of the Larap Seniors Citizen Associaiton, apparently, is
not interested in the 1% budget allocation for the municipality’s
infrastructure project.
She’s after
the PHP250,000 that Binay has allocated to complete their social hall.
Last
October, the Seniors were told that Mayor Ricarte Padilla – Meyor Dong for
short – has approved the release of the Php250,000 and that construction would
resume ASAP.
This was
confirmed by Larap Kagawad Raul Retona, who is in charge of the program for the
Larap Seniors. He had been in contact with the LGU-JP following up the movement
of the funds till it is finally released for the purchase of building
materials.
But shortly
after Meyor Dong came back from a brief errand in the US, he relayed the
message (to Mrs Francisco) that the social hall won’t be completed this year as
there’s no more money for it.
Where did it
go? Was it diverted towards the LGU’s baranggay road concreting program?
Again, Mrs
Francisco was told a while ago by the mayor’s office that the money was “hindi
pa naibibigay … sa February na lang …”
This is
really bad. This is heart-breaking news for the Seniors.
All along,
Mrs Francisco was hoping that they would have their own center by the end of
this year as funds have been made available for this – courtesy of Binay.
It would be
a nice Christmas present for them.
In an
interview with MWBuzz early last May, Meyor Dong said that Binay had allocated
a total of Php500,000 for the construction/completion of two senior citizens’
social hall – Php2500,000 for Larap and the other half for Nakalaya’s senior
citizens social hall project.
Mayor Dong
repeated the assurance just last October on the funds’ availability for the
completion of the Larap project before the end of 2012.
But this was
not to be so.
We need not
have to belabor the importance of this infrastructure to the Larap Seniors.
In our
previous report, we stressed that this place is the Seniors’ second home, a
place where they could be themselves without having to bother about what their
own families back home would think about the things they do here.
At the
center, they could play cards, mahjong, read komiks, pray, watch TV (if there’s
one), smoke or chew their favorite tobacco, chat, dance, sing or simply bum
around while making themselves happy, or while getting all the good kicks they
could at age 60 or 100.
Mrs
Francisco said a place of their own in the likes of a center would solve once
and for all the problem of getting a venue for important meetings the seniors
have to make. For these days, they have become tired of being a “squatter”.
At the
moment, holding such has always been a problem owing to the number of seniors
who normally would attend.
And when
somebody celebrates her or his birthday, there’s a place that they could have
to themselves alone, far from the peering eyes of their mocking, younger
counterparts.
There’s no
need to stress the fact that a senior would love to be with another senior,
talk with him or her about life or maybe go back to the mystery of the birds
and bees.
There’s no
need to stress the fact that seniors would like to be with another group of
seniors and make all the noise they could in celebration of life – the past 60
or 70 years - something that would be frowned upon at home.
They could
only do this in a place they can call their own – their own center.
It’s one way
to improve their well being despite the difficulties they are now in –
financially or otherwise -- and add a few more of healthy years to their lives
as they head towards their sunset.
The shell of
the incomplete center building, which the Seniors built in a “pa-unti-unti”
fashion through their own fundraising activities, has been standing in the
elements since 2010.
How could
Meyor Dong keep the Seniors hanging?
- A P
Hernandez
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Pati ba naman ang kapiranggot na kaligayahan ng mga senior citizens ay didilihensyahin parin ng mga swapang na politiko para sa sariling kapakanan?
ReplyDeleteheheh... andtingin ko eh na divert ang Php500,000 senior citizen funding for Larap and Nakalaya social center sa road cementing project...kasi biglang nawala... available last october as confirmed by themayor himself... tapos biglang nag say si meyor na ubos na raw ang 1% budgetallocation sa ganitong mga proyekto... eh ang sabi ko naman hindi naman galing sa 1% budget alloc kundi galing ung pera kay VP Binay for the completion of the larap seniors' social hall (Php250k) well, padilla doesn't react to mwbuzz issues so we willnever know what really happened with the funding.
ReplyDeleteTama ka tony ala na talagang kahihiyan itong mga local na politician sa atin iilan na lang sila na may natitirang kabutihan sa tamang pagserbisyo sa bayan.Ang PHP250k kung tutuusin ay hindi talaga sapat para maging maayos ang senior citizen building ang masaklap nito halos nagpapalimos na sila sa mga tao sa Larap para kahit papaano pwede na nilang pagdausan kung anong mga activities ang gagawin nila. Ano kaya ang kalooban ng ating butihing mayor sa pagkabasa niya sa suliranin ng mga larap senior citizen? Mayor, ang php250k ay para sa mga matatanda galing kay Binay hindi para sa sariling mong account.
ReplyDeletehi ferdilboy ...Meyor dong said the money is still with DBM kasi gusto ng CNorte-DPWH na sila ang gumawa ng P250k na project sa Larap. ayaw ni dong ...dahil baka maubos ang pera na h indi pa tapos ang center. ngayon ,kung ang JPLGU ang hahawak, makukumpleto ang trabaho on larap's with only P250k at mauumpisahan ang isa pang project sa isang baranggay.
ReplyDelete