MANILA Mayor Honey Lacuna responded to complaints from senior citizens regarding the problems with using PayMaya for claiming their monthly monetary allowance from the city government, by tapping barangays so the elderly can get their benefits directly and more swiftly.
During her ‘Kalinga sa Maynila’ forum in Tondo, Lacuna noted complaints lodged before her office and that of Office of Senior Citizens’ Affairs (OSCA) head Elinor Jacinto that a lot of senior citizens were not able to use their PayMaya ever, saying they could not withdraw or fail to withdraw anything.
Also due to forgetfulness that comes with age, the senior citizens told the mayor that they also tend to forget their pin number which is supposedly exclusive to them while other misplace their cards.
Owing to problems attendant to the use of PayMaya, Lacuna said she decided to grant requests from the senior themselves to make things easier for them, by letting the barangays take charge of the distribution of their monthly allowances.
“Sinasabi ninyo hindi kayo makapag-withdraw sa PayMaya. Sinasabi nyo mas gusto ninyo, mano-mano kaya naman ‘yun ang ginawa natin. Diretso na sa barangay ninyo ang allowance para diretso ho sa inyo. Kasi, napakaraming nagpupunta sa opisina ko at nagrereklamo,” the lady mayor said.
According to Lacuna, the monthly allowances will remain with the barangays for a period of one week to give the senior citizens more time to claim their benefits.
“Dahil mas gusto kamo ninyo na matanggap na lang sa barangay ang inyong allowance kaya ‘yun po ang ginawa natin… idiniretso sa barangay at mananatili doon ng hanggang isang linggo ang mga allowance para masigurong makukuha po ninyo,” the mayor assured.
