By Michael Vincent D. Cajulao
ZAMBOANGA
CITY – The national government continues to help
indigents all over the country, this time, focusing on the senior citizens
through the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) social pension
program.
DSWD-9 coordinator for social pension,
Ms. Evelyn Lingatong, said during the PIA Media Forum that the program is aimed
to help indigent senior citizens with their basic needs like food and
medication.
Lingatong explained that senior
citizens aged 77 years old and above are qualified as beneficiaries of the
program.
“We actually adjusted the age
requirement from 80 years old to 77 years old. Now, why 77 when senior citizenship
starts at 60? It’s for the simple reason that the older we get, the more help
that we need,” Lingatong said.
Mr. Uldarico Fabian, Division Chief
of Zamboanga City Social Welfare Office added that there are also other factors
to determine the inclusion of a person in the list of beneficiaries.
“Before we include potential
beneficiaries in our list, first, we really need to determine if they are
indeed poor. We will conduct background
check, visit their homes and see their situation. This program is intended for
the poorest of the poor,” Fabian pointed out.
Fabian also explained that senior citizens
who are already receiving pension from any institutions, or those who are
receiving monetary support from their loved ones are disqualified to avail of
the program.
Beneficiaries of the social pension
will be receiving P500.00 per month but the releasing of the pension will be on
a quarterly basis, said Ms. Milagrosa Jaligue, head of the City Social Welfare
and Development Office Unit 7.
Jaligue explained that they chose to
release the pension on a quarterly basis to also help lessen travel cost of the
beneficiaries.
“They will only be receiving P500 a
month. Transportation cost alone will really take away big part of that money
because they will be coming from other barangays. On a quarterly basis, they
will be receiving P1,500 and the travel cost will not take away big part of
their pension,” she said.
To also address the travel cost of
the beneficiaries, DSWD has partnered with the Philippine Postal Corporation
(PPC) for the door-to-door delivery of their pension.
“This scheme was introduced just this
second quarter with Zamboanga City as the pilot testing area. Out of the 1,561
beneficiaries, 710 were chosen for this testing. By June 3, we expect that 100%
of our beneficiaries in the city will receive their pensions thru door-to-door
delivery,” Ms. Lingatong stressed.
For this year, DSWD-9 has already
identified 17, 296 beneficiaries, with Zamboanga del Norte having the highest
number with 6,845; followed by Zamboanga del Sur with 5,412 beneficiaries;
Zamboanga Sibugay Province with 3,040 beneficiaries; 1,561 for Zamboanga City,
and 438 for Isabela City in Basilan. (PIA9)
