ILOILO City – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Western Visayas released the social pension of 57 percent of its target elderly-beneficiaries in the region.
As of Oct. 23, the DSWD provided a total of P630.474 million to 210,158 indigent senior citizens in four provinces for their stipend this second semester of 2020.
The department also included P96.816 million for 32,272 beneficiaries in Aklan, P76.722 million for 25,574 indigent elderly in Antique, P108.444 million for 36,148 indigent senior citizens in Capiz, and P348.492 million for 116,164 social pension beneficiaries in Iloilo province.
As provided for Republic Act 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, a qualified beneficiary is entitled to a P500 monthly stipend that he can use to augment their daily subsistence and other medical needs.
May Rago-Castillo, DSWD-6 information officer, said they are scheduling the distribution for qualified elderly in Negros Occidental.
Meanwhile, apart from the provision of social pension for qualified elderly, Castillo said the DSWD has released P4.27 billion for the second tranche and additional or waitlisted families for the social amelioration program (SAP).
Qualified families are entitled to P6,000 each.
The department also augmented 213, 677 family food packs to various local government units amounting to P86.392 million as of Oct 23.
Further, 12,777 locally stranded individuals (LSIs) were also provided with aid totaling P5.156 million.
This included food and non-food items and cash through the assistance to individuals in crisis. (With a report from PNA/PN)
