The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office 7 – Central Visayas reported that 299,737 indigent senior citizens received a Php 500 monthly stipend in 2023 through the social pension program of the agency.

Php 1.8 billion was released to pay 100% of the target number of senior citizens in the region. DSWD 7 distributed the amount to the beneficiaries through direct payouts and the transfer of funds to 80 LGUs, who facilitated the payout for their constituents.

Of the 299,737 indigent senior citizens, 127,439 were from Cebu, 99,490 were from Bohol, 62,287 were from Negros Oriental, and 10,521 were from Siquijor province.

The Department released a report on January 24, 2024, stating that more than 4 million indigent senior citizens in the country received a total of Php 6,000 in 2023, of which 7% were from the Central Visayas region.

The same report mentioned that the 2024 monthly stipend will increase from Php 500 to Php 1,000 starting in February.

The Republic Act 11916, or Act Increasing the Social Pension of Indigent Senior Citizens, provides for a 100 percent increase in the monthly stipend to help beneficiaries with the sustained price increase of various commodities.

The social pension program covers indigent older people who are frail, sickly, or have a disability, or those who have no permanent source of income or regular support from their family and must have no pension from government or private agencies.

It is given to eligible and qualified beneficiaries on a semestral basis to augment their daily subsistence and other medical needs. ###

 

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