PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan – More than 3,000 indigent senior citizens have received their monthly pensions from the Palawan government’s local social pension this year for the months of January to July.
Dubbed the “Kalinga Para kay Lolo at Lola” program, the social pension received by the beneficiaries amounted to over PHP4 million, said Helen Bundal, population program officer of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).
“These indigent elderly citizens are those who do not receive pensions from the national government,” she said in an interview Monday. Each pensioner receives PHP1,750 for seven months.
Aside from the local social pension, the elderly are also provided with financial aid and medical services, Bundal said.
“The distribution of their local social pension is under Resolution No. 11305 that was approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in 2014. Since then, the provincial government has been strengthening its support to them,” she added.
The measure aims to provide a monthly pension of PHP250 to all indigent senior citizens in Palawan 60 years old and above.
Before they are placed as beneficiaries, Bundal clarified that they undergo evaluation carried out by the PSWDO, Office for Senior Citizen Affairs (OSCA) and Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) of the municipality where they reside.
The Kalinga Para kay Lolo at Lola or KPLL is in line with the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 that holds local governments to afford monthly pensions to indigent senior citizens to help them pay for food and medicine.
Bundal said the PSWDO is currently preparing the fund for the second semester of the year. (Celeste Anna Formoso/PNA)
