Indigent senior citizens in Metro Manila
Department of Social Welfare and Development-National Capital Region (DSWD-NCR) Director Ma. Alicia S. Bonoan has said that her unit disbursed a total amount of P14,032,500 for payment of social pension of 2,657 indigent senior citizens in Metro Manila in 2011.
She said that this figure was based from the DSWD National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) data.
“Of the 2,657 approved beneficiaries in NCR, 938 of them were walk-in applicants at the local government units office of seniors citizens affairs and city social welfare and development who replaced the unlocated and delisted elderly from the NHTS-PR database,” Bonoan explained.
Based on the NHTS-PR data of DSWD, a total of 145,166 indigent senior citizens nationwide whose ages are between 77 years and above have been prioritized for 2011 implementation with budget appropriation of P870 billion.
Bonoan added that DSWD plans to expand the coverage of the government’s Social Pension Program to more indigent senior citizens nationwide this year and to also cover the elderly, whose ages are lower than the current 77 years minimum age requirement.
The payment of social pension for indigent senior citizens amounting to P500 is provided for under Republic Act No. 9994, also known as the Expanded Senior Citizens Act (ESCA) of 2010.