CALBAYOG CITY-A total of 593 indigent senior citizens from this city received their social pension through cash pay-out in a series of distribution activity spearheaded by Calbayog City Mayor Ronaldo P. Aquino.
The release of the social pension fund covered for six months or from January to June of last year where every registered indigent senior citizen received P3,000 or P500 monthly stipend.
In his message, Mayor Aquino personally expressed his appreciation to the elders for their contributions to city’s development and progress. This monthly cash assistance, he said, is a simple token from the national government downloaded to the city government to recognize our elders’ efforts in molding the city into what it is today, and our nation, in general.
The mayor likewise mentioned more benefits and privileges for our indigent elders including dispensation of purchase booklets which could last for over a year of proper use with more personal items on line for consumption and enjoyment by senior citizens, such as basic necessities and prime commodities and cash assistance of up to P3,000 given to the bereaved family of a registered indigent senior who dies.
This pay out of social pension to indigent senior citizens as mandated under section 5 of Republic Act 9994 or the “Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010” is being implemented locally by the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) headed by Betty Jane Arnejo.
The priority and qualified beneficiaries of this social pension are senior citizens age 77 years old and above who are frail, sickly, and disabled; without a regular source of income and/or support from any member of the family; and not receiving other pension benefits from the government and private agencies (SSS, GSIS, Veterans Pension, etc.).
The indigent senior citizens are identified through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), also known as “listahanan”, an information management system that the government uses in identifying who and where the poor are. (AIMEE A. CATALAN, PR)
