DSWD told to settle pension backlogs

SEN. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara has called on the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to address the reported 466,000 backlogs in the settlement of pensions for indigent senior citizens.

Angara urged the DSWD on Monday to resolve the issues that delayed the distribution of the social pension for the elderly.

SEN. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara. File Photo

The senator is one of the authors of Republic Act (RA) 11916, which doubled the social pension for indigent senior citizens from P6,000 to P12,000 a year.

During the interpellations on the proposed budget of the DSWD, it was revealed that the backlog in the distribution of the social pension had reached P5 billion based on estimates.

For the past three years, the average budget for the social pension of senior citizens has been at P25 billion.

“This cash aid is very important to the elderly who have nothing to rely on for their daily needs,” Angara said in a statement.

“We are inquiring into the causes of these delays and appealing to the DSWD to resolve this at the soonest possible time,” he pointed out.

Close to P50 billion is allocated under the proposed 2024 budget of the DSWD for the P1,000-a-month social pension of over 4 million indigent senior citizens.

Before the enactment of RA 11916, indigent senior citizens were receiving P500 a month to help them with their expenses, including food and medicine.

Indigent seniors, Angara said, are among the “most vulnerable sectors of society because they have no regular income, no relatives to take care of them and are not part of any social pension system.”

Administered by the DSWD, the Social Pension for Indigent Seniors Program will benefit elderly Filipinos who have no regular income or support from family and who are not receiving any pension.

More benefits for elderly

Angara also authored RA 9994, or the “Expanded Senior Citizens Act,” which grants additional benefits and privileges to seniors on top of what is already being provided under the original Senior Citizen’s Act or RA 7432.

The original law was authored by Angara’s father, the late Senate President Edgardo Angara, which paved the way for the grant of a 20 percent discount on goods and services to seniors.

Over a decade later, RA 9994 was enacted, providing seniors with an exemption from the value-added tax on the sale of certain goods and services on top of the 20 percent discount.

Angara reminded all the concerned merchants to honor the legally mandated discounts and privileges for seniors in light of reports that there are still some establishments that fail to provide these for one reason or another.

A recent report involved a senior citizen who filed a complaint against a hotel for allegedly refusing to grant her the 20-percent discount and exemption from the VAT for her stay at the establishment.

According to the report, the hotel claimed the senior guest was provided with a promotional rate already, so she could no longer avail of any additional discounts.

The guest asked the hotel for proof that the promotion was approved by the Department of Trade and Industry as required by the Consumer Act of the Philippines, but the establishment failed to provide it. The guest has since decided to file a complaint against the establishment.

“These benefits and privileges are being provided to senior citizens and also to persons with disabilities to provide them with some financial relief when availing goods and services for their consumption,” Angara said.

“Their circumstances, more often than not, are significantly different from the rest of society, and so we in Congress saw it fit to provide them with such benefits,” he said.

“We appeal to our partners in the private sector to honor all valid transactions of our seniors and for the concerned agencies in government to enforce the applicable laws,” Angara added.