By Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has clarified that indigent elderly-beneficiaries are only entitled to ₱500 monthly pension, contrary to the ₱6,000 per month that is being circulated over social media.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Acting Secretary Virginia Orogo (PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN)
DSWD Acting Secretary Virginia Orogo appealed to the public not to share wrong information to avoid creating unnecessary confusion among the public.
Poor elderly Filipinos receive ₱500 pension every month under the DSWD’s social pension program in accordance to the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 or Republic Act 9994.
Under the law, an elderly, who is 60 years old and above, is qualified to receive a ₱500 monthly pension if he or she is frail, sickly or with disability.
Likewise, he or she should not have any pension from other government agencies; and should not have a permanent source of income or source of financial assistance to support his or her basic daily subsistence expenses and basic medical needs.
The Department provides the cash subsidy to the social pensioners on a quarterly basis or ₱1,500 per quarter, totaling ₱6,000 for one year.
Orogo said that DSWD is open to answer queries regarding the different programs and services of the Department.
“Using inaccurate data is not helpful to the public. Much as we appreciate efforts to help DSWD in information dissemination, it would be best that fact-checking to be done first with reliable sources before sharing,” she said.
To date, 2,906,079 indigent older persons have received their pension as of the second quarter of 2018.