ILOILO City – Starting this month, indigent senior citizens who are beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Social Pension program will receive a P1,000 monthly stipend.
This comes after the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 11916 has already effected this year, thus increasing the social pension of indigent seniors from P500 to P1,000 per month.
“This means that for the whole year, instead of the previous amount of P6,000 per year, they will be receiving P12,000 social pension,” said Atty. Carmelo N. Nochete, director of DSWD Region 6.
RA 11916 is an act increasing the social pension of indigent senior citizens and appropriating funds therefor, amending for the purpose RA No. 7432, entitled “An act to maximize the contribution of senior citizens to nation-building, grant benefits and special privileges, and for other purposes.
“This latest development of increasing the pension is a milestone in elderly care. We thank our legislators for this initiative. Now, the elderly will be enjoying as this comes into reality,” added Nochete.
In Western Visayas, there are 385,954 indigent senior citizens who are receiving the social pension.
Here is the breakdown of social pensioners per province and highly urbanized cities:
* Aklan – 46,148
* Antique – 41,972
* Capiz – 56,265
* Guimaras – 14,767
* Iloilo province – 152,748
* Negros Occidental – 54,403
* Iloilo City – 13,676
* Bacolod City – 5,975
Social pension is the additional government assistance to augment the daily subsistence and other medical needs of indigent senior citizens.
As indicated in the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 (RA 9994), it is an additional government assistance which aims to: improve the condition of indigent senior citizens by augmenting their daily subsistence and medical needs; reduce incidence of hunger; and protect them from neglect, abuse, deprivation and natural and man-made disasters.
The grant of social pension is subject to a review every two years by Congress, particularly as to the amount of pension.
In a Panay News interview with Atty. May Rago-Castillo, information officer of DSWD-6, she said that the payout has started this January 2024 in several towns across the region.
For the first semester of this year, or from January to June, each indigent senior citizen will receive P6,000.
“May mga schedule na this January, naga-payout na gani kita sa San Rafael, Iloilo,” added Rago-Castillo./PN
