365K indigent elderly in WV receive social pension

By Jennifer P. Rendon

 

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-6 has completed the distribution of the social pension for the second quarter of 2020.

May Rago-Castillo, DSWD-6 public information officer, said 365,908 indigent senior citizens in Western Visayas already received their pension.

A total of P1,097,724,000 was released for the purpose.

Castillo said that each beneficiary received a P3,000 stipend, covering the months of July to December.

Iloilo province has the most number of beneficiaries at 147,444 while Capiz province was at far second with 54,953.

Meanwhile, there are 46,699 social pensioners in Negros Occidental; 45,826 in Aklan; 40,440 in Antique; 14,643 in Guimaras; 13,190 in Iloilo City; and 2,713 in Bacolod City.

Castillo said the DSWD-6 has no more backlogs in the granting of the social pension.

There had been delays in the distribution in 2019 after the agency conducted a re-validation of social pensioners all over the region to ensure that only eligible beneficiaries are on the list.

This year, Castillo said they started the distribution in September and ended last week.

Social pension is a regular program implemented by DSWD as part of the state’s commitment for the protection of elderly embodied in Republic Act No. 9994 or the “Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.”

The program is intended for 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.

Under Social Pension, qualified indigent senior citizens receive a monthly stipend of P500 released per semester at P3,000 or a total of P6,000 per year.