- CHERYL G. CRUZ
Qualified indigent senior citizens and persons with disabilities in Bacolod City are expected to each receive P6,000 per year following the approval on third and final reading by the Sangguniang Panlungsod Oct. 19 of the Bacolod Social Pension for Seniors and PWDs Ordinance.
The measure is a consolidation of similar proposals authored by councilors Em Legaspi-Ang, Celia Flor, and Simplicia Distrito, and it was decided that these will be consolidated and harmonized in a committee conference to provide social welfare benefits to senior citizens and PWDs.
Under the approved version with councilors Al Victor Espino, Jude Thaddeus Sayson, Claudio Puentevella, Renecito Novero, Israel Salanga, Vladimir Gonzalez, Jason Villarosa, and Psyche Marie Sy as co-proponents, an annual appropriation of P100 million, under the City Mayor’s Office, has been pushed.
In the proposed 2023 budget submitted by Mayor Alfredo Benitez Oct. 10, and approved on first reading by the SP Oct. 19, “programs engaged in assisting particular priority sectors are funded”, including senior citizens with a P5 million allocation while P4 million has been earmarked for the differently-abled.
Benitez, in his first 100 days in office report Oct. 8, took note of the social pension proposal that was still on second reading at that time. “Kung mapasa na ini, starting January 2023, we will be giving social pension to 12,000 Bacolodnon senior citizens for the first time,” he stressed.
The ordinance said the City of Bacolod recognizes the vital role and contribution of senior citizens, who laid the foundation for the building and transformation of Bacolod into what it is now.
“The SP, considering the integral role, contribution, and participation of the members of the elderly sector in the promotion of the nation as well as to the development of the City, and has the mandate to implement programs and services that will advance the welfare and development of PWDs in Bacolod, hereby enacts this ordinance,” it added.
The proponents said there is an ongoing validation and updating of the senior citizens’ database to determine the actual number of elderly in Bacolod.
They added that each beneficiary will receive a monthly financial assistance of P500, or P6,000 in a year.
Eligible senior citizens are those who do not receive any form of contributory pension, have no permanent source of income, compensation, or financial assistance from relatives to support his/her basic needs; and must be a registered voter and a resident of Bacolod for at least one year.
PWDs are those with temporary or permanent physical, mental, terminal illness, or sensory impairments which may hinder his or her full and effective participation in society, bedridden, with severe health condition, unemployed and has two or more dependents, living alone, and a registered voter and resident of Bacolod for at least 12 months, the ordinance said.
If the applicant passes the assessment or evaluation, the DSSD shall register him or her as a beneficiary of the program and transmit the necessary documents to the City Treasurer’s Office for the release of the assistance, on a quarterly basis.
Upon the lapse of 12 months from the applicant’s registration into the program, or at any appropriate time whichever is sooner, a re-evaluation will be made of the beneficiary’s circumstances to determine whether he or she remains eligible for social pension, the ordinance added./CGC
