‘Many poor elderly excluded from social pension program’

MANILA, Philippines - A non-government organization promoting the welfare of the elderly has claimed that a significant number of beneficiaries of the government’s social pension program for indigent senior citizens are not poor.

The Coalition of Services of the Elderly (Cose) said thousands of senior citizens who need the social pension were excluded from the program.

A study conducted by COSE on the implementation of the program showed a majority of the poor elderly did not receive the P500 monthly pension in 2011.

“A significant number of those listed by the NHTS-PR (National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction) had been found to be not indigent, while many had been excluded from the list,” the study said.