Representative Rodolfo “Ompong” Ordanes of the Senior Citizen Party-list expressed his gratitude to DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian for confirming that there is now funding for the increase of P500 in the indigent senior social pension for over 4 million indigent seniors.
Secretary Gatchalian was able to find the additional P25.6 billion in the updated unprogrammed funds of the 2023 national budget, which is in addition to the P25.6 billion stated in the DSWD budget for social pension for indigent seniors.
The only hindrance now to the release of the whole P1,000 per month indigent senior social pension is the set of implementing rules and regulations still pending with the National Commission on Senior Citizens.
As the Representative in Congress of the Senior Citizen Party-list and Chairman of the House special committee on senior citizen affairs, Representative Ordanes implores Chairman Franklin Quijano of the NCSC to make the IRR his top priority now.
The IRR on the P1,000 monthly indigent seniors social pension should be the primary focus now of the NCSC Chairman and Commissioners and their secretariat.
Representative Ordanes warns that they will not accept any lame excuses from NCSC similar to those given in past hearings. They should cancel all foreign travel and provincial sorties to focus on the IRR.
The NCSC Chairman and Commissioners should remember that although authority and responsibility for the indigent seniors’ social pension were transferred to them under Republic Act 11350 (NCSC Charter), Congress and DSWD are still there to oversee them.
Indigent seniors have grown tired and weary of waiting. The NCSC officials should triple their pace of work on the IRR. They need only to use the old IRR as their template and make improvements based on guidance received from DSWD and Congress. (END)