The Taguig City government has started distributing up to P3,000 in social pension each to about 14,000 indigent senior citizens in the city.
The program, spearheaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through the city’s Office for Senior Citizen Affair, covers 14,818 indigent senior citizens from all of Taguig’s 28 barangays.
The distribution at Lakeshore Hall, Brgy. Lower Bicutan will continue from May 26 until the 10th of June.
The social pension for senior citizens is one of the many programs of the national government, which Taguig City has continued to implement to help the elderly.
Apart from the social pension, indigent senior citizens are given a monthly stipend of P500.
The qualified beneficiaries are citizens who have official documents that prove they are not receiving any pension from other government agencies such as the Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), and the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO).
Senior citizens in Taguig are taken good care of by the local government through its programs and initiatives, the city said in a statement.
Free eye check-ups and prescription glasses are given to Taguigeño senior citizens under the Oplan Linaw program.
Birthday cash gifts worth P3,000 to P5,000 are also given according to the age brackets they belong to.
When a city resident reaches a hundred years old, she or he also receives P100,000 in cash and continues to receive the same amount every year after that 100th birthday.
The local government also provides house-to-house delivery of free maintenance medicines to the elderly with diabetes, asthma, and high blood pressure.
In 2019, Taguig City pioneered the Center for the Elderly, a 5-storey building which houses several facilities such as a therapy pool, a cinema, a dialysis center, among others, that benefit and improve senior citizens’ quality of life.
As a caring community, Taguig vows to further expand its programs to provide the highest quality of social and health services Taguigeño senior citizens deserve.