CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Friday launched the first ever Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) payout to some 733 Kapampangan-beneficiaries of the Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens (SPISC).
“A total of three million indigent senior citizens will receive their cash payout amounting to PHP2,400 each,” said DSWD Acting Secretary Virginia Orogo during the pilot payout of the UCT grant to its SPISC beneficiaries held at the Walter Mart San Fernando here.
“For our pilot payout activity, we will be providing the UCT grant of our social pension beneficiaries in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. In Region 3 (Central Luzon), a total of 95,304 SPISC beneficiaries will receive their UCT subsidy in the coming weeks,” she said.
Orogo further said the DSWD field offices in other regions are already preparing the payroll documents for the provision of the subsidy to social pension beneficiaries in those areas.
“The payout activity in the region will be scheduled as soon as we finish the payroll generation of our beneficiaries and after the Land Bank of the Philippines approves our payroll submissions,“ she added.
UCT is the tax subsidy provided under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law to help the poor cushion the adverse economic impact of the law for three years starting 2018.
For this year, beneficiaries will receive PHP200 per month or PHP2,400 for one year. In 2019 and 2020, the subsidy will increase to PHP300 or PHP3,600 a year.
Aside from the three million social pensioners, UCT beneficiaries also include the 4.4 million household-beneficiaries of the DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and 2.6 million poor households listed under the DSWD National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, or Listahan.
In an interview, UCT beneficiary Benjamin Culala of Barangay San Agustin in this city, thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for the meaningful program for the senior citizens.
“Masaya po kami na binigyan kami ng pension ng ating Pangulo Duterte. Ito po ay malaking tulong sa amin, lalo na sa pagpapagamot namin (We are happy because we were given pension by President Duterte. This is a big help for us, especially for our medication),” Culala said.
For his part, Salvador Pineda, 86, said the grant would help pay for his medical needs, including medicines and doctor’s fees.
Meanwhile, Finance Assistant Secretary Tony Lambino said the UCT program is a heartwarming event under the TRAIN tax reform cash transfer for acceleration and inclusion.
“Inclusion, because nobody should be excluded from economic growth,” Lambino said, adding that there are 10 million beneficiaries, including the 4Ps and senior citizens. (Marna Dagumboy Del Rosario/PNA)
