STARTING next year, persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Mandaue City will receive P6,000 in financial assistance annually from the city government.
This after the Mandaue City Council approved an ordinance amending City Ordinance 14-2018-1418 which increases the financial assistance of all registered PWDs in Mandaue City.
The amendment was approved on final reading during the City Council’s regular session on Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021.
City Councilor Joel Seno, the author of the ordinance, said before the amendment was approved, the financial assistance given to PWDs was only P5,000 which is distributed by the end of the year.
With the new ordinance, an additional P1,000 will be added to the current cash assistance, which will now be given in two tranches.
Seno said the amendment to the existing ordinance was realized after the city’s Persons with Disability Affairs Office (PDAO) sought consultation with him on the possibility of increasing their yearly cash aid.
The PDAO cited the high price of basic necessities and other essential commodities as well as the financial hardship of their members during the Covid-19 pandemic as reasons behind increasing the yearly cash aid.
Another reason behind the cash aid hike is that some registered PWDs in the city have difficulty looking for jobs since some have low educational attainment due to their disability, Seno added.
With the financial assistance, Seno said it could somehow help them in purchasing their basic needs and medicines.
Although P6,000 is not enough to help the PWDs, Seno said that during their consultation with the city’s finance committee, that is the most that they can do for now, particularly in this time of the pandemic.
Seno said the registered PWDs in the city can expect to receive P3,000 in April and another P3,000 in November starting next year, and the years thereafter.
The new ordinance will take effect on January 3, 2022. (KFD)