Indigent senior citizens who are beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) social pension program will begin receiving a monthly stipend of P1,000 in February, Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications and spokesperson Romel Lopez said on Monday, Jan. 22.
Lopez said the funds for the implementation of Republic Act 11916, or an Act Increasing the Social Pension of Indigent Senior Citizens, were already included in the DSWD’s 2024 budget.
The social pension program covers 4,085,066 indigent senior citizens this year.
“We expect that the distribution of the social pension for the first semester with its increased amount will commence this February 2024,” he said.
Republic Act No. 11916, which lapsed into law in July 2022, provides for a 100 percent increase in the monthly pension of indigent senior citizens from P500 to P1,000 to help them cope with the effects of high inflation.
The monthly social pension is given to qualified senior citizens on a semestral basis, with a total amount of P6,000 per payout to supplement their daily subsistence and medical needs.
Lopez said the program covers indigent senior citizens who are frail, sickly, or disabled, as well as those who have no permanent source of income and rely on regular support from family or relatives.
He added that senior citizens are eligible for the program if they do not receive pensions from the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, Armed Forces and Police Mutual Benefit Association Inc., or any other private insurance provider.