A TOTAL of 78,706 elderly will be getting social pension.
Based on records of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office 6, this is way higher than the senior citizens reached last year.
“We are glad to tell the people in the region that we will be able to reach more elderly. In fact, there are more than 11,000 senior citizens who could receive the stipend on top of our existing pensioners,” said Rebecca P. Geamala, regional director of DSWD6.
In 2015, there were 67,499 pensioners.
This year, there will be 27,425 pensioners in Iloilo; Capiz, 10,499; Aklan, 9,842; Antique, 9,575; and Guimaras, 2,759. In the neighboring Negros Island Region (NIR), there are 18,607 pensioners.
The pensioners will be receiving P500 per month to be released at P1,500 every quarter or a total of P6,000 per year.
Budget allocation for the year including Negros Occidental is pegged at P472.2 million.
The program aims to augment the daily subsistence and other medical needs of indigent senior citizens.
It is in line with the fulfillment of the obligation of the government to protect the most vulnerable sector through social protection, and for the full implementation of the Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.
It also aims to improve the living condition of eligible indigent senior citizens./dswd6/May Grecia-Rago