(MANILA BULLETIN)

Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte is prodding senators to pass before the end of the 19th Congress the counterpart to the House-passed measure on an expanded social safety net initiative granting a monthly stipend to all Filipinos 60 years of age and above. 

Villafuerte made this appeal ahead of the celebration of Elderly Filipino Week this first week of October. 

The measure that the Bicolano was referring to was House Bill (HB) No.10423, which had already been approved on third and final reading reading by the lower chamber. 

He said the proposed statutes stands to benefit over 12 million elderly Filipinos, including some four million indigent senior citizens. 

The bill bats for a universal social pension program that shall grant an allowance of P500 every month to all elderly Filipinos. The stipend will be increased to at least P1,000 monthly within five years after this project’s full implementation. 

Elderly Filipino Week is celebrated annually during the first week of October, as mandated by Proclamation No. 470 issued by then-President Ramos in September 1994, in recognition of the  contributions of Filipino seniors  to national development. 

“I am appealing to our senators to pass this proposed universal monthly pension, equivalent to an initial P500 and then bumped up to at least P1,000 per beneficiary within five years after this program’s full implementation, as such financial aid will help all elderly Filipinos, and not just our indigent senior citizens, cope with the ever rising cost of essential food items, utilities and medicines,” said Villafuerte, a co-author of HB No.10423. 

Only with an approved counterpart measure from the Senate can the particular House bill move forward and get enacted. 

HB No.10423 provides that the monthly allowance for all senior citizens shall be on top of any other pension benefits that the elderly have been getting or about to receive from other pension providers such as the Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Pension and Gratuity Management Center (PGMC). 

Under this proposal, Villafuerte said the management of the universal pension program shall be transferred from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) within three years. 

It mandates the DSWD, he said,  to consult the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and other stakeholders in reviewing and, if so needed, adjusting the pension amount every two years, taking into consideration the diverse needs of the aged and pertinent economic indicators, as tracked and published by the appropriate government agencies. 

The bill defines the universal pension for the elderly as a “non-contributory monthly monetary grant” from the government to support the daily subsistence and medical needs of senior citizens. 

Villafuerte said that the measure proposes that the amount needed for this universal social pension shall be added to the DSWD’s budget in the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA), and later to the GAA outlay of the NCSC upon the full transfer to it of this pension program.