Tags: General News, Government Offices
By Anna Valmero
BORONGAN, EASTERN SAMAR— Indigent senior citizens who are residents here and aged 77 years old and above will receive a social pension worth P500 monthly.
The social pension is a national project of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which will provide the pension fund for 145,000 elderly the next three years, after which the project will be turned over to the local government unit, DSWD chief Corazon “Dinky” Soliman.
This year, P800 million was earmarked for the project.
The Philippines’ elderly population is 6.8 million, of which 1.23 million live below the poverty threshold.
Eligible pensioners are indigent senior citizens refer to elderly who are frail, sick, and disabled are in the masterlist of the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), said Soliman.
Those receiving monthly pension from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS), and Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), Armed Forces of the Philippines Savings and Loan Association Inc. (AFPSLAI) or private insurance firms are ineligible for the program, he added.
Aside from social pension, Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 entitles the elderly to 20 percent discount on commodities such as food and medicine and assistance to sick and disabled.
Qualified pensioners in Eastern Samar can claim their first quarterly pension this April, said Ben Calzado, officer of the Social Pension Fund from DSWD. To augment the budget from DSWD, the province of Eastern Samar allocated P300,000 for the social pension project.
In the Bicol region, senior citizens will receive P1,500.
Senior citizens will be paid in cash through payroll for the meantime that they are not enrolled at government-run Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) yet. Later, they will be encouraged to open an account where their pension will be deposited monthly, said Calzado.
To determine eligible pensioners. the city or municipal social welfare and development officers and head of the Office of Senior Citizens Affair (OSCA) will validate potential social pensioners in the NHTS-PR masterlist.
A verified list of pensioners will be posted and notification letters will be sent to eligible elderly. During enrolment, each social pensioner must present their notification letter. He or she will then fill-out an enrolment form to Landbank and will be photographed for identification. The OSCA and the Landbank personnel will facilitate enrolment of bedridden pensioners.
Conchita Genilo, a Sangguniang Bayan member in the town of Hernani welcomed the pension project and added she is happy of the government assistance for the elderly.
During the orientation seminars, senior citizens are also reminded of their right to report establishments that violate any provision of RA 9994 such as improper charging of the 20 percent discount. Violators will pay a fine from P10,000 to P50,000 penalty or face one to six months of imprisonment.
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