A total of 124,705 senior citizens have already received their social pension for the first quarter in Western Visayas.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office VI, the implementing agency of the program in this part of the country, has started the payout in February of this year.

“We are listening to the people and we understand that our Lolos and Lolas need their social pension. This year, the payout will be on a quarterly basis,” said Regional Director Ma. Evelyn B. Macapobre of DSWD FO VI.

For each quarter, a social pensioner will receive P1,500. This covers the pension amounting to P500 multiplied by three months. The whole year stipend is P6,000.

The number of senior citizens so far served comprises 34 percent of the target.

Mariecar Labinghisa, focal person for Social Pension, said that they are optimistic that they will finish the distribution by the end of March.

Social Pension is the additional government assistance to augment the daily subsistence and other medical needs of indigent senior citizens.

As indicated in the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 or RA 9994, it is an additional government assistance which aims to: improve the condition of indigent senior citizens by augmenting their daily subsistence and medical needs; reduce incidence of hunger; and protect them from neglect, abuse, deprivation and natural and man-made disasters.

The grant of social pension is subject to a review every two years by Congress, in consultation with the DSWD./dswd6