By Danny O. Calleja
LEGAZPI CITY, May 8 (PNA) – Over 8,300 indigent senior citizens in Bicol are going to benefit from the nearly Php50 million in newly-released national government fund for their social pension, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The amount is the region’s share from the total of Php1.2 billion recently released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to the DSWD for the 200,000 needy elderly in all the 16 administrative regions of the country in support of the Aquino administration’s goal to facilitate inclusive growth.
“As the country’s economy expands, Filipinos, young and old, should benefit directly from our reforms. This is exactly what inclusive growth is all about,” DSWD Regional Director Arnel Garcia on Friday here said.
The fund release is mandated under Republic Act (RA) 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 that provides for the Social Pension of Indigent Senior Citizens, which means more elderly indigents can now receive additional government assistance in the form of a monthly stipend amounting to Php500, he said.
The same Act also mandates the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to automatically place under its coverage all the at least 2.16 million senior citizens across the country who have yet to get the health insurance.
In announcing the fund release over the week, DBM Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said “we crafted the 2015 budget to prioritize the poor and the vulnerable, including indigent senior citizens. This release will allow us to address the basic needs of our elderly indigents, who do not otherwise have the resources to support themselves.”
Indigent senior citizens are defined under RA 9994 as “any elderly who is 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, as determined by the DSWD in consultation with the National Coordinating and Monitoring Board.”
The P1.2-billion release—which will benefit a total of 200,000 elderly indigents aged 65 and above—was charged against the 2015 General Appropriations Act (GAA), under the DSWD’s Php5.96-billion budget for Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens.
Through this fund, the administration could support this year a total of 200,000 indigent senior citizens living anywhere within the country’s 16 regions, with Bicol having 8,329 — the third lowest in number following Central Mindanao (Region XII), the lowest with 7,756, and the Southern Tagalog (Region IV-A) with 8,309.
The Php1.2 billion fund is divided among regions according to the number of beneficiaries as follows: National Capital Region, Php106.004 million, 17,674 beneficiaries; Region I, Php51.522 million, 8,587; Region II, Ph68.898 million, 11,483; Cordillera Autonomous Region, Php82.914 million, 13,819; Region III, Php74.934 million, 12,489; Region IV-A, Php49.854 million; Region IV-B, Php63.372 million, 10,562; Region VI, Php54.516 million, 9,086; Region VII, Php 50.322 million, 8,387; Region VIII, Php78.132 million, 13,022; Region IX, Php70.950 million, 11,825; Region X, Php59.748, 9,958; Region XI, Php143.160 million, 23,860; Region XII, Php46.536 million; and Region XIII, Php149.124 million, 24,854.
The beneficiaries were pre-identified through the Listahanan or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), an information management system that determines who and where the poor are and made available to government agencies and other social protection stakeholders as a basis in identifying potential targets of social protection programs and services.
In Bicol, the 2011 Listahanan, which was validated in the last quarter of 2014 through the Proxy Means Test (PMT), identified a total of 10,643 social pensioners with ages 70 years old and above who have been receiving the Php500 monthly stipend since 2009.
The validation was done following reports on discrepancies involving the program wherein some beneficiaries were either unqualified or non-existing.
Garcia said the current listing of beneficiaries is now reliable following the PMT as it assures that only those qualified and deserving are getting the pension under RA 9994 which is an expanded version of the past program that qualified only those who were 70 years old and above.
Under this new fund, 65 years old and above are covered, which means more senior citizens are getting the benefits, he explained.
“Dakulaon na tabang samo ang pension na ini para makabakal kami ning bulong asin iba ming mga kaipuhan na mag agom (This pension is a big help to us. Because of it, we are able to buy medicines and our other needs), Editha Alegre, a beneficiary here, told the Philippine News Agency.
Hence, the social pension relives hope that the senior citizens will spend the remaining days of their lives without much daily living trouble, according to Garcia.
Prior to the release of the fresh fund, the DSWD was required to furnish the DBM various documents, including the special budget requests, with the support of a detailed Financial Plan, a Monthly Disbursement Program (MDP), a Physical Plan, and other documentary requirements.
“It isn’t enough that the budget can support our indigent senior citizens. We also need to improve how government works so that the funds will actually go straight to the beneficiaries. In working closely with our agencies and helping them improve their budget and project plans, we can make public spending more transparent and accountable,” Abad said. (PNA)