THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has commenced the payout of the first semester of its social pension (SocPen) program.
The SocPen aims to augment the needs of indigent senior citizens during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
As of April 29, a total of 227,876 indigent senior citizens from Regions II, III, IV-B, V, VI, VII, X, XI, CAR, and CARAGA have already received their pension for the first semester worth P3,000 each at P500 per month from January to June, which is equivalent to more than P674 million.
Meanwhile, other DSWD Field Offices (FOs) are now finalizing the fund transfer process with concerned local government units (LGUs) for the immediate release of the stipend of remaining beneficiaries.
To ensure the efficient payout, DSWD FOs will provide the official list of social pensioners to LGUs and forge a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the distribution of the grant specifically for the duration of the ECQ. Once the MOA is signed, DSWD, through its FO, will transfer the fund to concerned LGUs for payout to beneficiaries.
Some DSWD FOs are also conducting cash payouts directly to the senior citizen-beneficiaries through their Special Disbursing Officers (SDO). However, the distribution schedules may depend due to the ongoing implementation of the enhanced community quarantine and other circumstances in the area.
SocPen is a program under Republic Act No. 9994 or the “Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010” which provides monthly stipend amounting to P500 to indigent senior citizens in order to augment their daily subsistence and other medical needs. It is distributed on a semestral basis at P3,000 per semester or P500 per month for six months.
The law specifies that seniors qualified to receive social pension are those who are frail, sickly or with disability; without any pension from other government agencies; and without a permanent source of income or source of financial assistance/compensation to support their basic needs.
DSWD assures the public that it will adhere to existing safety and health protocols in determining the best payout method to lessen the exposure of its beneficiaries and personnel to Covid-19.