Senior citizens group in Talisay wants more beneficiaries of pension program

CEBU, Philippines - The Office of the Senior Citizen’s Affairs (OSCA) in Talisay City has asked Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman to increase the number of beneficiaries of the Senior Citizens Social Pension Program.

In an interview with The Freeman, OSCA head Fe Yap said there are only 38 senior citizens included as beneficiaries of the social pension program, considering the city has 22 barangays and with a population of more or less 150,000.

“I propose that budget in 2013 for Talisay City be increased to accommodate more pensioners,” Yap said.

Yap proposes 55 beneficiaries of the pension program.

The SPP is a program in which beneficiaries, aged 77 years old and above, are entitled to receive a P500 monthly stipend.

To qualify under this program, the senior citizen must not be a pensioner, has no regular financial support from any of his/her family members, sick or disabled, Yap said.

DSWD regional director Evelyn Macapobre, in a separate interview, said beneficiaries are selected using the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), the similar instrument used in determining the grantees of the Pantawid Pamilya and Cash-For-Work programs. 

 NHTS-PR uses the Proxy Means Test (PMT) in the selection of recipients for social welfare programs and services. 

The PMT is an electronic formula composed of socio-economic variables that ranks and selects the household beneficiaries based on the household assessment form (HAF) filled-up during the enumeration. 

Macapobre said that if they are found qualified for the program, they will be considered priority once there is a need for additional beneficiaries or as replacements for delisted pensioners.        

“Additional beneficiaries will be provided and we are hopeful that the 55 senior citizens will be accommodated by that time,” Macapobre said.