BY MARY JOY CAVAÑAS
ILOILO City – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 6 targets 386,000 beneficiaries for its Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens (SPISC) this year.
Republic Act (RA) 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, provides a P500 monthly stipend to indigent senior citizens for their daily maintenance and other medical needs.
It is being implemented by DSWD in coordination with city and municipal social welfare and development offices and with the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs.
RA 9994 specifies that senior citizens qualified to receive social pensions are those who are sick or with disabilities, without any pension from other government agencies, and without a permanent source of income to support their basic needs.
Social Pension program focal person Gretchen Taleon, during a media forum on Monday, said 385,954 target beneficiaries were allotted P2,315,724,000, divided into first and second semesters.
The breakdown of beneficiaries is as follows:
* Aklan – 46,148 target beneficiaries (P276,888,000)
* Antique – 41,972 target beneficiaries (P251,832,000)
* Capiz – 56,265 target beneficiaries (P337,590,000)
* Guimaras – 14,767 target beneficiaries (P88,602,000)
* Iloilo City – 13,676 target beneficiaries (P82,056,000)
* Iloilo – 152,748 beneficiaries (P916,488,000)
* Bacolod City – 5,975 beneficiaries (P35,850,000)
* Negros Occidental – 54,403 beneficiaries (P326,418,000)
For the second semester, 92 percent of the social pension has been distributed as of Oct. 20. The pay-out is still ongoing in Capiz, Iloilo City, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental.
DSWD had fully accomplished the disbursement for the first semester on May 26.
Last year, 355,908 indigent senior citizens in Western Visayas received their 2022 first-quarter social pension amounting to P548,852,000, according to DSWD./PN
