Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte on Monday appealed to senators to pass on the current 19th Congress their counterpart to the House-passed bill granting an initial P500 monthly pension to all Filipinos 60 years of age and above.
Villafuerte made the appeal on the occasion of the “Elderly Filipino Week” which started on Tuesday.
Villafuerte, president of the National Unity Party (NUP), in a statement, said the bill will benefit all senior citizens—now numbering over 12 million—and not only indigent seniors, who are the beneficiaries of current pension programs for the aged in their sector.
Under the measure, House Bill 10423 which has been approved by the House of Representatives, a universal social pension program shall be established to grant an allowance of P500 each every month to all elderly Filipinos, and that will be increased to at least P1,000 monthly within five years after this project’s full implementation.
Elderly Filipino Week is celebrated annually during the first week of October, as mandated by Proclamation 470 issued by then-President Fidel Ramos in September 1994, in recognition of the contributions of Filipino seniors to national development.
Approved on third and final reading by a 232-0 vote, HB 10423 was one of the measures passed by the House of Representatives during the second regular session of the 19th Congress.
