• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The social pension of indigent senior citizens in Western Visayas, including the 5,975 in Bacolod City and 54,403 in Negros Occidental, will double this year, the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the region said Jan. 23.
“This means that, instead of the previous amount of P6,000 per year, they will be receiving P12,000 in social pension,” Atty. Carmelo Nochete, DSWD6 regional director, said in a statement, adding that this is because Republic Act 11916, or an Act Increasing the Social Pension of Indigent Senior Citizens, takes effect this year.
The law increases the social pension of indigent senior citizens, from P500 to P1,000 per month.
Nochete said that there are 385,954 beneficiaries in Western Visayas.
Aside from recipients in Bacolod and Negros Occidental, other social pensioners include 152,748 in Iloilo Province, 56,265 in Capiz, 46,148 in Aklan, 41,972 in Antique, 14,767 in Guimaras, and 13,676 in Iloilo City.
The Bacolod City government also started in 2023 the giving of P500 a month in cash assistance, or P6,000 a year, to qualified senior citizens, who do not receive social pension from the DSWD or other concerned agencies, as per the Bacolod Social Pension for Seniors and PWDs, or City Ordinance 1010, authored by councilors Celia Flor, Em Ang, and Simplicia Distrito.
It was passed by the Sangguniang Panlungsod on Oct. 19, 2022, and approved by Mayor Alfredo Benitez Nov. 3 that same year.
Section 8 of the ordinance states that the city government shall appropriate P100 million, under the City Mayor’s Office, to implement this law.
Benitez earlier said this will be the first time that the city will give social pensions to around 12,000 senior citizens, although the number of beneficiaries could also increase this year. | CGC
