Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assistant secretary Romel Lopez has maintained that the agency has no backlogs or delays in the distribution of the P500 monthly social pension for indigent senior citizens.
Lopez, who is also the DSWD spokesperson, said there are no backlogs on social pension payouts to the more than 4.1 million indigent seniors.
He said, however, there are 466,000 indigent senior citizens who are on the waitlist as these would-be beneficiaries require additional funding before they are included in the program.
“Perhaps, there might be a mix-up regarding the backlog, as it is not related to any delays in our payouts. Up to now, our payouts for senior citizens have been on time. We do not have any backlogs in terms of payment,” Lopez said.
He said the supposed backlog, which was raised by Senator Juan Edgardo Angara during the budget hearing, could refer to the 466,000 waitlisted senior citizens who are seeking inclusion in the social pension program and are not covered by the target beneficiaries.
The funds currently allocated for the social pension program for 2023 cover only the more than 4.1 million senior citizens with each receiving P500 monthly stipends.
Of this number, Lopez said around 93,000 senior citizens are being removed from the list due to various reasons such as the beneficiary’s death.
“The discrepancy between the waitlisted individuals and those exiting the program is significant, and that is the primary reason why we currently have a backlog,” Lopez said.
Lopez also said that the budget increase for the social pension program in 2024 will only cover the additional P500 to the current monthly stipend of the indigent senior citizens in accordance with Republic Act (RA) 11916 or an Act Increasing the Social Pension of Indigent Senior Citizens.
The DSWD spokesperson said the P500 additional pension will be given starting next year once the proposed 2024 budget will be approved.
RA 11916, which lapsed into law in July 2022, provides for a 100 percent increase in the monthly pension of indigent senior citizens from P500 to P1,000.
Lopez said eligible senior citizens should fall within the following criteria to receive social pension: frail, sickly or with a disability; without pension from the Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) or from any sources of pension in government and private agencies; and without any permanent source of income, compensation or financial assistance from relatives to support their basic needs.
The social pension program aims to augment the daily subsistence and other medical needs of indigent senior citizens.
