PSA validates Negros Occidental social pension beneficiaries

ENRIQUE B. MAGALONA, Negros Occidental — National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Claire Dennis S. Mapa supervised the 2026 Community-Based Monitoring System validation of Social Pension beneficiaries in this municipality on July 23.

Mapa’s field visit included an interview with a Social Pension beneficiary in Barangay Poblacion III to verify information recorded for the government assistance program.

He was joined by Philippine Statistics Authority Regional Statistical Services Office-Negros Island Region Officer-in-Charge and Regional Director John F. Campomanes.

PSA Negros Occidental Supervising Statistical Specialist and Officer-in-Charge Diesah S. Biaoco also participated in the field supervision.

The PSA said the province-wide activity is being conducted with Department of Social Welfare and Development field offices, local government units, and barangay officials.

The agency said coordination with local partners helps field personnel reach communities and conduct validation and assessment activities efficiently.

PSA Negros Occidental said data validation is essential to protecting the quality and integrity of information used to implement social protection programs.

The process is intended to ensure that beneficiary records are accurate, complete, and updated, according to the agency.

Reliable records can reduce exclusion errors, or cases in which qualified people are left out of government assistance programs, the PSA said.

The agency said the validation reflects its commitment to strengthening local statistics, empowering communities, and supporting poverty alleviation through social protection programs.

The Community-Based Monitoring System is an organized, technology-based mechanism for collecting, processing, and validating disaggregated information for local planning, program implementation, and impact monitoring.

Republic Act No. 11315, or the Community-Based Monitoring System Act, was signed into law on April 17, 2019.

The law provides for updated local data that government agencies can use to target beneficiaries, analyze poverty, prioritize needs, design interventions, and monitor their effects over time.

The DSWD’s Social Pension Program provides qualified indigent senior citizens with monthly assistance of PHP 1,000 for food, medicine, and other basic expenses under Republic Act No. 9994, as amended by Republic Act No. 11916.

The program covers indigent Filipinos age 60 and older who are frail, sickly, or living with a disability and who have no regular income, pension, or sufficient family support.