THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is set to award Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile, who is widely known as JPE, with a P100,000 centenarian cash gift when he turns 100 years old on his birthday on February 14, Valentine’s Day.
“Entitled siya. (He is entitled.) Will surely hand him the centenarian gift,” Social Welfare assistant secretary and concurrent spokesman Romel Lopez said.
Republic Act (RA) No. 10868, or the Centenarian Act of 2016, provides that all Filipinos who reach the age of 100, whether residing in the Philippines or abroad, are entitled to receive a P100,000 one-time cash gift from the national government.
Apart from the cash gift, a letter signed by the President congratulating the celebrant for his or her longevity is also given to the centenarian.
Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said a thanksgiving mass and lunch will be hosted in Malacañang to celebrate the birthday of the former Senate President on Wednesday.
Enrile, who was born on February 14, 1924, is a lawyer and politician who held several positions in government, including senator, Cagayan congressman, minister of the Department of National Defense, and minister of the Department of Justice, among others.
Enrile was the defense minister when the late president Ferdinand Marcos placed the country under martial law in 1972.
He later joined then Armed Forces Vice Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos in protesting the alleged fraud committed during the 1986 snap elections, which subsequently led to the People Power revolution that ousted Marcos from Malacañang.
DSWD said that in 2023, it distributed the centenarian cash gift to 2,444 individuals.
A P186 million is allotted for the Centenarian program in the 2024 national budget.