DSWD earmarks P1B for indigent seniors in NorMin

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Northern Mindanao has allocated over P1 billion to serve and provide social pension to 186, 760 indigent senior citizens in the region this year.

Daisy Ramos, DSWD-10 social pension focal person, said it has allocated about P1,120,560,000 to the 34,378 senior citizens in Bukidnon, 6, 339 seniors in Camiguin, 46,026 in Lanao del Norte, 46,245 in Misamis Oriental, and 53,772 senior citizens in Misamis Occidental.

Ramos said they are also pushing for the approval of some 14,000 additional slots to admit more senior citizens into the program.

She also pointed out that they have been hearing calls from some senior citizens that DSWD should expand their program and include senior citizens who are receiving pension from other government agencies worth less than P5,000.

“They are not included but we are also aware that what they receive is not enough to cover especially their medical expenses, this is why we have already drafted a proposal that those who are receiving less than P5,000 pension will now be included in the program. But this proposal is still pending because we still don't have a Secretary, hopefully this year, it gets approved,” Ramos said.

But Ramos said some politicians use the program on social pension for indigent senior citizens for their personal interests. She said they have received numerous complaints from senior citizens themselves about the program being ‘politicized'.

Some barangay officials are also reportedly enlisting themselves as beneficiaries, which is prohibited.

Because of this, Ramos said they are visiting local government units and even barangays to validate the list of beneficiaries.

“This is a big work, but we will do it to validate because these barangay officials shouldn't receive the pension even if they are seniors, because they have regular income, they have honorarium, our program is only intended for the indigent senior citizens,” she said.

Another problem the department is facing on the pension program, is the delay and sometimes non-compliance of the local government units' liquidation reports.

Ramos said 15 days after the payouts, local government units should already submit liquidation report, however, this is not the case especially for most cities in the region.

In Cagayan de Oro for instance, Ramos said the city still has over P4 million unliquidated balance of social pension fund in 2017. Although it has already complied the balances in the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2017, Ramos said the city has yet to liquidate the 4th quarter of 2017 fund, as well as the fund used for the 2,401 slots it added last year.

“This should not be the usual practice because the delay means a delay of the payout for senior citizens. So when delay happens, it is at the expense of our seniors,” she added.