JV Ejercito bill seeks to double indigent seniors' pension to P2,000

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Senator JV Ejercito has filed a bill seeking to double the monthly social pension for indigent senior citizens from P1,000 to P2,000 amid rising prices of goods and other basic needs.

Senate Bill No. 2522 seeks to amend Republic Act No. 11916, which doubled the monthly social pension from P500 to the current P1,000.

Ejercito said the P1,000 monthly pension is no longer enough to cover the needs and expenses of senior citizens.

“Seniors should not be forced to choose between buying medicine and buying food. Their lifetime of work and sacrifices should not end in anxiety over whether there will be enough money for the next meal or the next prescription,” Ejercito said in the bill’s explanatory note.

“Social pension is not charity. Ultimately, this measure is about how we value those who came before us,” he added.

The proposed measure would expand the definition of an indigent senior citizen to include those with no regular income or pension, as well as retirees receiving pensions or financial assistance of P10,000 or less per month, as determined by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The bill would also remove the existing requirement that an indigent senior citizen be frail, sickly or disabled to qualify for the pension.

Moreover, the bill would require the DSWD, with the approval of the Department of Budget and Management and after consulting stakeholders, to review and adjust the social pension amount every two years based on economic indicators such as the consumer price index and cost of living.— MCG, GMA News

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