The official spokesperson of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reiterated on Wednesday (August 21) the criteria to qualify for the agency’s Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens Program or SocPen.

“We would like to reiterate that the SocPen program of the DSWD is for indigent senior citizens who are frail, sickly or with disability, and without pension or permanent source of income, compensation or financial assistance from his/her relatives to support his/her basic needs,” Asst. Secretary Irene Dumlao, who is also the agency spokesperson, said.

According to the DSWD spokesperson, the SocPen is a program under Republic Act No. 9994 or the “Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010” which provides a monthly stipend amounting to Php500 to indigent senior citizens to augment their daily subsistence and medical needs.

Asst. Secretary Dumlao said Republic Act No. 11916 also known as “An Act Increasing the Social Pension of Senior Citizens”, which lapsed into law in July 2022, entitled indigent senior citizens to a monthly stipend of Php1,000, from the previous Php500 per month starting January 2024.

The law, which is currently being implemented by the DSWD, covers a total of 4,085,066 qualified “indigent” senior citizens and not yet to all senior citizens in the country which is considered the “universal coverage”.

“We would like to clarify that the DSWD’s SocPen program is different from House Bill No. 10423 or the Universal Social Pension bill,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao pointed out.

House Bill No. 10423 seeks to amend the coverage of the SocPen program.

A video clip of a district representative dated May this year has been circulating in social media recently, causing confusion among senior citizens.

“Matic na ang pagiging  kasapi sa social pension basta edad 60. May Social Security System (SSS) pension man o wala, may Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) pension man o wala, kasama na po,” the legislator was quoted as saying, referring to House Bill No. 10423.

The DSWD advised the public to disregard social media contents that are not issued by the official social media accounts of the DSWD and refrain from posting or resharing unverified contents.

“Some posts contain information that may mislead the public, especially the vulnerable. Again, the DSWD would like to reiterate to only refer to our official social media accounts and website,” the DSWD spokesperson said. #