Senior Citizens Social Pensioners in CV Nearing 30,000
Central Visayas (CV) has a total of 270, 910 beneficiaries of the Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens (SPISC) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and these are among the 700,000 Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) grantees here.
The Special Pension Program is the additional funding assistance of the government, given on top of the monthly P500 senior citizens pension.
The law specifies that the beneficiaries of the annual P2400 social pension (P200 monthly), should be those senior citizens who are frail, sickly or with disability; those without any pension from government agencies and those who are without permanent source of income to support their basic needs.
Qualified indigent senior citizens are identified by the respective Senior Citizens Affairs Office of each local government units (LGUs).
The list of beneficiaries are then validated by the City/Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO).
DSWD-7 Chief of Policy and Plans Division, Graeme Ferdinand Armecin shared during the recent Association of Government Information Officers (AGIO) Forum, that DSWD 7 so far has paid out P 179,488,800 for the first semester of this year for the social pension beneficiaries.
Armecin assured beneficiaries who have yet to get their pension to be at ease, the releasing of subsidy is still ongoing.
He also asked for more patience from pensioners from island municipalities and areas like Olango and Camotes. He clarified that the delay of SPISC releasing in these areas is not because of the disinterest of the LGUs for the program. However, it is due to the logistical challenges that the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) faces in money transportation.
Social pensioners are among the UCT subsidy grantees provided for by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.
Other recipients of the program are the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and the Listahanan Identified Poor Households.
DSWD 7 Protective Services Division Chief Rosemarie Salazar, encourages beneficiaries of the social pension to follow their respective schedule in the release of their subsidy.
She advised UCT beneficiaries with special needs, like senior citizens and persons with disabilities to claim their subsidies on the special schedule set for them to avoid hassle on their part.
Salazar also asked UCT beneficiaries to come to the claiming venues with their Beneficiary Notification Form, given by the DSWD notifiers and at least one valid government issued ID. (hfg with report from Jan Karla Madrio/PIA7)
