The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) delivered social pension assistance directly to a bedridden senior citizen in a remote mountain village in Quirino Province after a viral video showed him being transported down a rugged path on a carabao-drawn cart to claim his aid.

DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao on Saturday, March 14 said the agency immediately coordinated with its Field Office II and the local government of Cabarroguis, Quirino after learning about the situation of the elderly beneficiary, identified as Lolo Jaime.

“The DSWD and the local government immediately took action when we learned about the situation. It is important to ensure that our senior citizens are safe and no longer have to undergo dangerous travel just to receive government assistance,” Dumlao said in Filipino.

The agency clarified that assistance under the Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens is delivered door-to-door in remote communities to prevent elderly beneficiaries, especially those who are bedridden, from traveling long and difficult distances just to receive their aid.

“The goal of our door-to-door delivery of social pension is to ensure that our beneficiaries no longer need to go down the mountain or travel far. We want them to feel that even if they are in remote areas, the government is still there to deliver services,” Dumlao said.

According to DSWD Field Office II Regional Director Lucia Alan, the agency verified the case after seeing the online post about the elderly man, who lives in Barangay Dibibi, a remote mountainous community in Cabarroguis.

Reaching the barangay requires an estimated two-and-a-half-hour hike from the town center.

When authorities learned that the family had already started bringing Lolo Jaime down the mountain to collect his pension, personnel from the DSWD and the Cabarroguis local government unit rushed to meet them along the road.

The senior citizen received P3,000 in social pension, equivalent to P1,000 per month for the first quarter of the year.

DSWD also extended P5,000 worth of food assistance and informed the family about medical assistance they may access through the Social Welfare and Development office.

Local health workers conducted an initial check-up and provided maintenance medicines and vitamins.

Lolo Jaime was also referred to the Department of Health’s Purok Kalusugan program under the Doctors to the Barrios initiative to address his medical needs.

To help improve his mobility, the case was endorsed to the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office for the provision of a wheelchair, which is ready for pickup by the barangay captain.

Barangay health workers and nutrition scholars have also placed Lolo Jaime under regular health monitoring to ensure continuous support.