Seniors in CamSur get social pension
By Cet Dematera
Some 2,600 seniors from Goa, Camarines Sur had already received their lump sum social pension from 2020 to 2021 amounting to P12,000 each (P500 monthly for 24 months) through offsite payment scheme spearheaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
DSWD-Bicol Information Officer Marygizelle B. Mesa said that offsite payment is done right at the place where the beneficiaries reside to be claimed by their legitimate representatives through DSWD’s special disbursing officers (SDOs) and paymasters.
Due to the prevailing pandemic, Mesa explained that the senior beneficiaries are receiving their monthly pension every six months (semester) amounting to a total of P3,000 (at P500 a month for six months).
“But there were around 99 who received their pension lump sum for two years at P12,000 each,” she added.
“We are doing this to make sure that our senior citizens who belong to a vulnerable sector would not be exposed to health risks due to the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic,” Mesa said, adding that only those listed in their prepared payroll would be handed the cash aid.
“DSWD strongly encourages the beneficiaries who still have with them relatives to send them as their authorized representatives instead of claiming their pensions themselves,” Mesa said.
An overjoyed beneficiary expressed her thanks to DSWD for the P12,000 worth of stipend released to her this payout.
According to Amada F. Sale, a resident of Pinaglabanan, Goa, Camarines Sur, she was only expecting P3,000.00 for this second semester payout.
“Ang paghuna ko P3,000 sana ang mareresibe ko”, (I thought I was only going to receive P3,000) she said happily.
Sale is among the beneficiaries validated in 2020 of which payments for the previous semesters were released retroactively covering four semesters.
“Nabigla ako na P12,000 ang nirelease sakuya. Ugmahun ako na maray ta dakulaun na tabang ini sa sakong pagbuhay” (I was surprised to receive 12,000. I am overjoyed because this is a great help for me), she further expressed.
According to Sale, she will use her pension for her daily sustenance like food and drink for nourishment, maintenance medicines, and purchase of other basic needs.
“Dakulaun na tabang samo na mga senior ang Social Pension, kaya grabe ang pasalamat ko na nakabale ako sa programa na ini kang gobyerno sa paagi kang DSWD” (The Social pension of the government thru DSWD is indeed a great help for us Seniors and I am very thankful that I qualified as a beneficiary of the program) she added.
Social Pension or SocPen is a program for Indigent Senior Citizens in the Philippines under Republic Act No. 9994 or the “expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010,” which entitles a qualified beneficiary to receive a monthly stipend of P500 per month to augment their daily subsistence and other medical needs being released on a semestral basis amounting to P3,000.