The House Special Committee on Senior Citizens has approved the committee report and substitute bill for the Universal Social Pension for Senior Citizens, which seeks to provide the financial benefit not just to poor senior citizens, but to everyone in the sector.

Currently, only indigent senior citizens are eligible to receive the P1,000 monthly stipend. Pensioners from the Social Security System (SSS) and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) are excluded from coverage.

The approved substitute bill seeks to address this gap and expand the coverage by making social pension mandatory for all senior citizens, and ensure that no elder is left behind simply because they do not fall under a narrow definition of indigence.

With the committee approval, the Universal Social Pension for Senior Citizens bill will now be up for plenary approval.

Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority's (PSA) 2020 Census of Population and Housing, there are at least 9.2 million senior citizens in the country. At that time, they represented 8.5 percent of the Philippine population.

Senior citizens are defined as Filipinos aged 60 years and over. Included in the approved substitute measure was House Bill (HB) No.1421, penned by Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Miro Quimbo.

Quimbo pointed out that only a limited number of senior citizens receive pensions from SSS or GSIS, and yet older Filipinos remain providers or contributors to household expenses despite having little or no regular income.

The current GSIS and SSS pensions are also not enough to cover the daily and medical needs of senior citizens.

“Ang isa sa gusto kong ma-address kaya ako naghain ng panukalang amyendahan ang social pension for senior citizens ay yun disqualification ng mga SSS and GSIS pensioners (One of the issues I want to address with my proposal to amend the social pension for senior citizens, is the disqualification of SSS and GSIS pensioners)," Quimbo said.

"Una, hindi na makatotohanan ang halagang natatanggap sa SSS at GSIS pension kumpara sa daily at medical expenses kapag naging senior citizen ka na. At mas mahalaga para sa akin (First, the amount received from SSS and GSIS pensions is no longer realistic compared to daily and medical expenses once you become a senior citizen. And more importantly for me) – why are we penalizing those who worked and supported themselves during their youth?" asked the Committee on Ways and Means chairman.

It is unfair to penalize those who contributed to the nation through taxes while they were working. Excluding them from the social pension is discriminatory. We need to amend that," Quimbo emphasized.

Quimbo says the measure not only addresses the real situation of senior citizens, but also gives them dignity and security as they enter their twilight years.

“Ang ating mga lolo at lola ay buong buhay na nagtrabaho, nag-alaga ng pamilya, at nag-ambag sa komunidad. Pero sa pagtanda, sila ay madalas nalalagay sa alanganin pagdating sa pang-araw-araw na gastusin.

(Our grandfathers and grandmothers worked their whole lives, cared for their families, and contributed to the community. But in old age, they are often placed in a difficult position when it comes to daily expenses.)

Thus, we are extending this universal benefit to honor all our senior citizens’ for their societal contributions and help them meet their needs with dignity and peace of mind,” Quimbo said.