Billion for poor elderly pushed

Sen. Risa Hontiveros proposed yesterday an additional R4 billion in the 2018 R3.76 trillion national budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD) social pension for indigent senior citizens to cover another 600,000 elderly in next year's appropriation law.

Hontiveros made the move as Sen. Loren Legarda, chairwoman of the Senate finance committee, delivered her sponsorship speech seeking approval by the 24-member Senate of the proposed budget.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives expect to pass a common version of the 2018 General Appropriation Act (GAA) before they go on a Christmas break on December 16. The common GAA version will then be submitted to President Duterte.

Hontiveros said that in the proposed 2018 national budget, the DSWD allocation for its social pension for the elderly amounts to R19.2 billion covering three million senior citizens.

However, there are approximately 3.6 million validated indigent senior citizens, she pointed out.

"This means that the 2018 budget is R4 billion short and six hundred thousand indigent senior citizens will be left behind. We cannot allow this to happen. I will make the appropriate budget intervention to correct this error," Hontiveros said.

The senator, who is a member of the Senate Committee on Finance, reiterated her call for a universal social pension fund for senior citizens.

Hontiveros said there should be universality of social pension for senior citizens and immediately for the "most senior", the indigent and those who are not covered by the government's existing pension packages.

"A universal social pension fund for senior citizens is not an act of charity. It is about recognition and empowerment. By investing in senior citizens, we recognize their contributions to society; we empower them to capably respond to the challenges of the aging process, help them achieve a better quality of life and keep them as productive members of society," she said.