Sixty four thousand two hundred eighty eight older persons from Central Luzon are beneficiaries of the Social Pension Program of the Government for 2015.

Mary Jean Balico, Social Pension Program focal person said that the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office III (DSWD FO III) has already scheduled the payout starting July 21.

 DSWD FO III will disburse the amount of P123,231,500 stipend  to seniors aged 65 and above who were  identified based on the result of the data generated by the Listahanan or National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) of the DSWD.

Of the 64,288 beneficiaries, 46,419 are existing pensioners who will receive P1,500.00 for the months of April-June while 13,957 who are additional beneficiaries for 2015 will receive P3,000.00 each for the months of January-June. The remaining 3,912 seniors are replacements of those seniors who were dropped from the list due to death, transfer of residence, unlocated, or found out to be beneficiaries of other social insurance system.

The provision of the P500 monthly social pension to indigent senior citizens is provided under Republic Act No. 9994, also known as the “Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.” Under the law, indigent senior citizens shall be entitled to a monthly social pension of P500 to augment their daily subsistence and other medical needs.

Under the operational guidelines issued by the DSWD, senior citizens who are 65 years old and above and who meet the eligibility criteria will benefit from this program. All qualified senior citizens shall receive their P500 monthly social pension on a quarterly basis.   

Indigent senior citizens are those who are frail, sick, disabled, not receiving monthly pension from Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS), Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), Armed Forces of the Philippines Savings and Loan Association, Inc. (AFPSLAI) and other private insurance companies. Senior citizens who do not have permanent source of income or regular support from their families or relatives are also qualified to avail of the program. ### (Social Marketing Unit)

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