Senior citizens to get P23 billion in stipend from DSWD

MANILA, Philippines — Thousands of indigent senior citizens will receive a monthly stipend of P500 this year, one of their representatives in Congress said yesterday.

The 2019 national budget allots P23.2 billion for the stipend that will be distributed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which also gets to qualify beneficiaries, Francisco Datol of party-list group Senior Citizen said.

“The mandate of the budget law is for the DSWD to give the P500 monthly stipend directly to each senior citizen-beneficiary or through money remittance centers accredited by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,” he said.

It also provides that no more than seven percent of the total appropriation should be spent for administrative expenses, he said.

He added that at present prices, the P500 allowance could buy 15 kilos of well-milled rice.

Datol pointed out that the money for the allowance should already be with the DSWD, since the national budget was signed almost a month ago.

He said the stipend should be paid effective January this year.

He promised to work to increase the allowance or augment it with medicine and food vouchers if his party-list group wins reelection in Monday’s balloting.

President Duterte signed the budget on April 15. He wanted it enacted in December before 2018 ended.

Months of wrangling between senators and congressmen on alleged pork barrel fund insertions delayed the enactment of the budget.