DSWD urged: Speed up registration of indigent seniors

MANILA — Half a million more "economically disadvantaged" senior citizens are eligible for a yearly pension of P6,000 because of increased funding, up from 939,609 beneficiaries last year, Senator Ralph Recto, who has called on the government to expedite registration in the program, said Sunday.

"Maliit lamang na halaga ito pero malaking tulong para sa mga senior citizen natin na walang pagkukunan ng ikabubuhay, kaya sana huwag nang maantala," the reelectionist senator said of the P500 a month that senior citizens will receive because of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.

Recto, who moved to raise the Department of Social Welfare and Development's budget for the program to P8.7 billion from the P7.5 billion that the Palace proposed in the 2016 national budget, said the additional funding will mean coverage for 443,332 new beneficiaries.

He said the DSWD should process and register the new beneficiaries as soon as possible since "such disbursement of funds must be exempt from underspending."

The program previously only covered indigent senior citizens 80 years old and above because of funding limitations. The threshold age was later lowered to 77, and to 65 years old in 2015.

"By increasing the budget for this program, we are embracing the idea that all indigent seniors 60 years old and above must be covered by the proposed allocation. The policy is No Senior Left Behind," Recto said in a press statement Sunday.

The pension, distributed quarterly by the DSWD, is meant for senior citizens "who are frail, sickly, or have disabilities; are not receiving pension from the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, or Veterans Pension; and do not have a permanent source of income or regular support from relatives," Recto said.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, citing the 2010 census, senior citizens make up 6.8 percent of the population. —