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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Accurate senior citizens database to help gov't in release of doubled social pension

Accurate senior citizens database to help gov't in release of doubled social pension

Published Jun 18, 2023 07:04 am
(MANILA BULLETIN)



A House leader is urging local government unit (LGU) executives to help the government establish an accurate database for the estimated 12.3-million elderly Filipinos nationwide. According to Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte, the national listing or cataloguing of senior citizens is timely, as some four million elderly Filipinos who are considered as indigent are believed eligible to receive higher monthly subsidies under a new law on improved social protection for this sector. “I am appealing to our local executives to help the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) and NCSC (National Commission of Senior Citizens) [to] establish the national database for an estimated 12.3 million seniors, given the urgency of identifying and getting an accurate number of elderly Filipinos, particularly those who are eligible to receive the higher monthly subsidy of P1,000 under RA 11916,” Villafuerte said. The Commission on Appointments (CA) majority leader made this call after learning that as of June 18, the NCSC has thus far registered only 2,032,708 elderly Filipinos in its national database. Villafuerte is co-author of Republic Act (RA) No.11916 or the Social Pension for Indigent Seniors Act, the amendatory law that doubled to P1,000 from P500 the monthly social pension of more than four million indigent elderly Filipinos. In early April, Villafuerte expressed the hope that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) could source enough funds from the national budget to fully carry out this year the doubling of the monthly social pension. “In the face of the still-elevated inflation, the doubling of the P500 monthly pension of our indigent elderly Filipinos to P1,000, as provided for in a new law, will spell added financial relief for these seniors who have to contend with the endlessly spiralling cost of living,” said the Bicolano. He said RA No.11916 need not end up "a great but unfunded program for the benefit of our indigent seniors who are in dire need of state subsidies". The DBM, he said, recently approved the release of P42.93 billion to cover the one-year health insurance premiums of around 8.6 million senior citizens. Villafuerte noted that RA No.11916 directs the DSWD and NCSC to update and validate the list of target beneficiaries on an annual basis. This updating and validating process shall be done, he added, with the assistance of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), through the community-based monitoring system.

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senior citizens Rep. LRay Villafuerte
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