BY CRIS DIAZ
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY: The indigent senior citizens in the country would get their P 500 monthly social pensions every quarter starting 2022, a lawmaker said Thursday.
At present, the more than 2 million indigent senior citizens in the country get the P 500 monthly social pensions every six months.
Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro City Cong. Rufus Rodriguez, said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) issued Memorandum Circular No. 16 adopting the new pay out schedule for indigent pensioners.
The DSWD’s memorandum was based on House Resolution No. 1047, invoked by Rodriguez during the budget deliberations of the DSWD 2022 budget.
Rodriguez, who authored HR 1047, said that indigent senior citizens need financial assistance for their food and maintenance medicines, most especially at this time of COVID-19 pandemic.
Aside from HR 1047 which shortened the payment of the P500 monthly pensions to three months, Rodriguez also filed House Bill No. 9459 seeking to provide additional social pension for indigent senior citizens from P 500 to P1,000 a month.
Rodriguez said that HB 9459 was already approved by the House in August and is currently pending in the Senate for another round of deliberations. -0-
