IATF wants senior citizens to no longer show up personally for their pension

MANILA, Philippines — The government’s pandemic task force wants financial institutions to allow senior citizens to no longer appear personally to get access to their pensions beginning March 1.

Malacañang announced Friday that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has directed pension agencies and their servicing financial institutions to adopt alternative modes of validation for senior citizen pensioners instead of them having to appear in person.

“We know that we are in the middle of a pandemic and seniors are at high-risk and are vulnerable to COVID-19. To ensure their health and safety, this resolution was approved,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in Filipino on state-run People’s Television.

Senior citizens, along with persons with comorbidities, are at higher risk of contracting severe COVID-19 that would require hospitalization and may even lead to death.

This is also one of the reasons why the government has prohibited people older than 65 from going out of their homes, unless for emergency or humanitarian purposes.

The Philippines has the second-worst outbreak of COVID-19 in Southeast Asia, with over 555,000 cases and over 11,000 deaths. — Xave Gregorio