Bohol Rep. Kristine Alexie Tutor has filed a bill seeking to grant a monthly P1,000 social pension for all registered persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the country and ensure their access to government’s microfinance, microinsurance, and microenterprise programs.
The vice chairperson of the House Committee on Health filed House Bill No. 7571 or the proposed "Persons with Disabilities Financial Resilience Act” to benefit the country’s PWDs who are among the most adversely affected by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"To augment current government assistance programs for PWDs, this bill establishes a Social Pension Program for all registered PWDs. The social pension shall be in the amount of P1,000 per month which may be disbursed on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis as may be deemed necessary and appropriate by the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development),” she said in the bill’s explanatory note.
She said that the proposed social pension program shall be separate from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and stipend programs of local government units (LGUs) that are sourcing their available local funds and from their share in the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).
However, senior citizens already enrolled and availing themselves of the DSWD’s social pension program are not covered by the bill, she said.
HB 7571 calls for the creation of a National Persons With Disability (PWD) Registry, which will serve as verified, secured, and shared access consolidated national database on all Filipino PWDs based on a detailed national household inventory.
Under the bill, the DSWD, National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), National Privacy Commission (NPC), and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is tasked to set up such registry.
“The Registry data shall serve as the bases for the special PWD classification and marking by the Philippine Identification System for the issuance of the PhilSys National ID and consequent availment for benefits,” it said.
Tutor’s measure also directs the Department of Finance (DoF), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Small Business (SB) Corp., and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to coordinatively undertake the inclusive access to and availment of PWDs of their respective microfinance, microinsurance, and microenterprise programs and projects.