102,000 elderly await gov’t social pension

At least 102,000 indigent senior citizens in Central Visayas are still waiting to be covered by the social pension of the Department of Social Welfare and Development-7, which provides a monthly stipend of P500.

DSWD-7 regional information officer Leah Quintana said all slots in Central Visayas, 67,567, have been filled so the regional office has to ask for a bigger budget for next year to accommodate all indigent senior citizens in the region.

When the program started, Central Visayas had 11,402 slots.

Quintana said around 102,000 registered senior citizens in the region who are eligible for the pension are now on the waiting list.

A qualified beneficiary must be 60 years old and above; is in ill condition or with disability; without pension from public or private insurance companies; and without permanent source of income or regular support from relatives.

DSWD earmarked P405 million for the 67,000 beneficiaries in Central Visayas but the regional office has proposed a budget of P1.2 billion for next year to cover the existing beneficiaries, including those who are waitlisted.

The agency is mandated to provide social protection and deliver social services especially to the poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged.

One of its several programs is the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens, which is in accordance with Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.

The project is spearheaded by DSWD in coordination with local government units, Office for Senior Citizens Affairs, and senior citizens’ organizations.

Local government units are required to maintain an updated waiting list of indigent senior citizens, both validated and assessed; the lists of identified indigent senior citizens are then forwarded to DSWD field offices.

Every chosen beneficiary is entitled to a monthly stipend of P500 but the release is done on a quarterly basis either through direct payment to pensioner by the designated disbursing officer or fund transfer to the local government unit.

Recently, DSWD-7 has been receiving complaints from beneficiaries that they have not received their share of P1,500 per quarter.

To address this concern, the agency piloted this month (for the fourth quarter) the doorto-door delivery services, which is one of the modes of distribution.