Ahead of the traditional Christmas Eve Feast, some 49,000 senior citizens in Valenzuela City get their annual gift of Noche Buena packages from the city government.

Starting today, December 18, Mayor REX Gatchalian and the local officials will make rounds of schoolS and community covered courts for the Pamaskong Handog kay Lolo at Lola, an annual tradition in the city.

This year, the packages include two kilos of rice in a customed-made hand-carry eco bag and boxed canned goods, ranging from corned beef, luncheon meat, sausage, mixed fruits, condensed milk, with spaghetti sauce and pasta, among others.  

It is the city government’s way of giving back and bringing cheer to the aged constituents. As early as november this year, the city government has started sending tickets to the elderlies’ doorsteps to make sure they get the one under their name.

To claim their gift, a recipient would just have to bring his/her ticket and his/her OSCA ID to the designated venue written behind their ticket.  In case of a representative, he/she must bring an identification card plus the ticket and ID of the recipient he or she represents.

The Pamaskong Handog will run for four days until December 21, to cover all the 33 barangays in the city.  Data from the City Social Welfare and Development Office and the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) shows that there are about 49,047 pamaskong handog recipients this year, much higher than the 45,000 recipients last year.