ILOILO City – All the 355,908 indigent senior citizens in Western Visayas have received their 2022 first quarter social pension, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The total pension released reached P548,852,000.
The social pension is provided for by Republic Act (RA) 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010. It is a monthly stipend amounting to P500 to augment the daily subsistence and other medical needs of indigent senior citizens.
The pension is being implemented by DSWD under the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens (SPISC) Program in coordination with City or Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (C/MSWDO) as well as with the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA).
RA 9994 specifies that seniors qualified to receive social pension are those who are frail, sickly or with disability; without any pension from other government agencies; and without a permanent source of income or source of financial assistance/compensation to support their basic needs.
Here’s the area breakdown of the beneficiaries and the pension released:
* Aklan – 45,826 senior citizens (P68,739,000)
* Antique – 40,440 senior citizens (P60,660,000)
* Capiz – 54,953 senior citizens (P82,429,500)
* Guimaras – 14,643 senior citizens (P21,964,500)
* Iloilo City – 13,190 senior citizens (P19,785,000)
* Iloilo – 147,444 senior citizens (P221,166,000)
* Bacolod City – 2,713 senior citizens (P4,069,500)
* Negros Occidental – 46,699 senior citizens (P70,048,500)
According to DSWD-6’s Disaster Response Management Division (DRDM) Information Officer II Therese Fely Legaste, the releasing of social pension is done quarterly (every three months).
Each beneficiary thus receives P1,500 per quarter (P500 per month)./PN
