CEBU CITY — The Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) in Cebu City has suspended the replacement of senior citizen identification cards after a misleading advisory led hundreds of senior citizens to request new IDs.
An advisory from an unknown source stated that senior citizens needed new IDs to receive their next financial aid from the government. This caused widespread confusion as the OSCA did not give such instruction.
On Aug. 21, 2024, about 700 senior citizens rushed to the OSCA office at Cebu City Hall, asking for their IDs to be replaced.
The existing senior citizen IDs have been in use since 2019 and remain valid, the OSCA said.
The advisory also falsely claimed there is a P100 fee for new IDs and that the old ones needed to be surrendered.
OSCA Administrator Rey Abesia addressed the issue on August 22 during a city hall program, saying that the advisory was fake. He assured the public that senior citizens are not required to replace their IDs unless the information on the card is unreadable or outdated.
"Giklaro lang namo nga dili gyud na tinood nga gi-require namo ang mga senior citizens nga magpa-ilis sa ilang ID para maka-claim sila sa ilang assistance. Amo gihapon i-honor ang ilang ID basta mabasa pa og dili hanap ang nakabutang (We want to clarify that it is absolutely not true that we require senior citizens to replace their ID in order to claim their assistance. We will still honor their ID as long as it is readable and not faded)," he said.
The surge in applicants overwhelmed the OSCA, causing its ID printer to break down.
OSCA head lawyer Homer Cabaral has launched an investigation to identify the source of the false advisory.
Abesia, meanwhile, said the distribution of the third tranche of financial aid for senior citizens will take place at the barangay level from September 7 to 10.
"Those who are unable to claim their aid during the barangay distribution can do so at the city hall starting September 11," he said.
Abesia also emphasized that OSCA will continue to accept and honor the current IDs.