Image courtesy of DSWD
MANILA – Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian has recognized the significant contribution of the elderlies to the community as the nation commemorated World Senior Citizen’s Day on Wednesday.
“Patuloy rin ang DSWD sa pagbibigay ng mga programang angkop sa pagkalinga sa kanila gaya ng Social Pension (SocPen) for Indigent Senior Citizens (The DSWD also continues to provide programs suitable for their care such as the Social Pension (SocPen) for Indigent Senior Citizens),” Gatchalian said in a Facebook post.
In a news release, DSWD spokesperson and Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao reiterated that DSWD’s SocPen program is for indigent senior citizens “who are frail, sickly or with disability and without pension or permanent source of income, compensation or financial assistance from his/her relatives to support his/her basic needs.”
She said SocPen is a program under Republic Act (RA) 9994 or the “Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010”, that provides a monthly stipend amounting to PHP500 to indigent senior citizens to augment their daily subsistence and medical needs.
Dumlao said the monthly stipend increased to PHP1,000 per month starting January 2024 under RA 11916, also known as An Act Increasing the Social Pension of Senior Citizens” which lapsed into law in July 2022.
The law, implemented by the DSWD, covers 4,085,066 qualified “indigent” senior citizens but not all senior citizens in the country which is considered under the “universal coverage.”
“We would like to clarify that the DSWD’s SocPen program is different from House Bill No. 10423 or the Universal Social Pension bill,” Dumlao said.
House Bill 10423 seeks to amend the coverage of the SocPen program.
She reiterated the criteria after a video clip of a district representative circulated on social media, causing confusion among senior citizens.
“Matic na ang pagiging kasapi sa social pension basta edad 60. May Social Security System (SSS) pension man o wala, may Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) pension man o wala, kasama na po (Someone becomes a member of social pension once she or he reaches the age of 60 whether or not they have Social Security System or Government Service Insurance System,” Dumlao said.
She advised the public to ignore social media contents not issued by the official social media accounts of the DSWD and refrain from posting or resharing unverified contents.
“Some posts contain information that may mislead the public, especially the vulnerable. Again, the DSWD would like to reiterate to only refer to our official social media accounts and website,” Dumlao said. (PNA)
