Indigent seniors’ monthly social pension now P1,000

MANILA, Philippines — The long wait is over for indigent senior citizens as they can receive a monthly social pension of P1,000 starting February, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said yesterday.

Distribution of the monthly stipend is expected during the first semester of the year, according to DSWD Assistant Secretary for strategic communications Romel Lopez.

“The funds increasing the monthly stipend for social pensioners were already approved and included in the 2024 budget of the agency,” he said.

Republic Act 11916 or the Social Pension for Indigent Seniors Act – which lapsed into law in July 2022 – increased the elderly’s monthly stipend to P1,000 from P500, an adjustment that was intended to soften the impact of high inflation.

The pension is given on a semestral basis with a total amount of P6,000 per payment to augment senior citizens’ daily subsistence and other medical needs.

It covers senior citizens who are “frail, sickly or have a disability, or those who have no permanent source of income and regular support from their family or relatives,” Lopez noted.

The elderly are considered eligible if they are not receiving a pension from the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, Armed Forces and Police Mutual Benefit Association or any other private insurance company.

Currently, 4,085,066 indigent senior citizens are covered by the program.