By Brian Jules Campued
Indigent senior citizens are set to receive their P1,000 monthly social pension from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) starting next month.
“We expect that the distribution of the social pension for the first semester with its increased amount will commence this February 2024,” DSWD Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications Romel Lopez said on Monday.
The increase in monthly stipend from P500 to P1,000 was mandated by Republic Act No. 11916 which lapsed into law in July 2022. The adjustment was intended to cushion the impact of high inflation to poor senior citizens.
Asec. Lopez, who also serves as the DSWD spokesperson, added that the funds for social pensioners were already included in the agency’s 2024 budget.
The pension is given on a semestral basis to eligible and qualified indigent senior citizens with a total amount of P6,000 per payout to “augment their daily subsistence and address their medical needs,” according to Lopez.
Meanwhile in an interview with Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon on Tuesday, DSWD Asec. Irene Dumlao clarified that the DSWD will still manage the program as it is not yet transferred to the leadership of the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC).
Dumlao also reminded the public that preparations for the distribution of payouts are being coordinated with local government units and schedules will be announced on the agency’s official communication platforms.
The DSWD field offices will likewise conduct house-to-house distributions for senior citizens who are bedridden or those who can not personally go to the payout sites.
“Meron din tayong arrangements with those beneficiaries who have existing cash cards that were previously issued by the LandBank, maaari rin po nilang i-withdraw ito sa pinakamalapit na LandBank branches,” she added.
The DSWD also explained that the social pension program covers indigent senior citizens who are frail, sickly, disabled, and those who have no personal source of income and regular support from their family or relatives.
Further, seniors who don’t receive any form of pension such as from the Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), Armed Forces and Police Mutual Benefit Association, Inc. (AFPMBAI), or other private insurance companies.
Currently, 4,085,066 indigent senior citizens are covered by the social pension program. – avds
