Age requirement for DSWD pension program lowered

CEBU, Philippines- More indigent senior citizens can now avail of the social pension program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development after the agency lowered the minimum required age of potential beneficiaries.

Starting this year, the minimum required age for social pension will be lowered from the original 77 years old to 65 years old. 

The social pension is one of the social protection programs of DSWD that provides P500 monthly stipends for eligible indigent senior citizens.

Qualified for the program are those 65 years old and above, frail, sickly, or have disabilities, those not receiving pension from the Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), or Veterans Pension and do not have permanent source of income or regular support from relatives.

DSWD-7 Regional Director Mercedita Jabagat said the program’s new provision will benefit more senior citizens.

“The monthly financial assistance aims to help them in their basic needs such as medicines and food,” Jabagat explained.

Jabagat also clarified that based on the guidelines, being an active member of any senior citizens association is not a pre-requisite to avail of the financial assistance from the department.

“I encourage the public to immediately report to their City or Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office or to the Regional Office if there are issues in the implementation of the program,” she added.

Meanwhile, Local Government Units (LGUs) can now also directly distribute the monthly stipend.

The LGUs will be the one to distribute the stipend to the indigent senior citizens whose names are officially listed in the consolidated order of payment.

Currently, there are 34 LGUs that can distribute the stipend to senior citizens. These identified LGUs have no unliquidated funds from any DSWD programs.

For 2015, DSWD-7 added 18,258 social pensioners to the previous 34,792, targeting a total of 53,050 beneficiaries for the said program.  (FREEMAN)