THE city of San Juan’s Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (Osca) recently started validating the eligibility of individuals applying for the seniors’ social pension after the minimum age requirement was lowered by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Osca San Juan is conducting social investigations to establish the qualification of applicants, said Teresita C. Cumba, Osca San Juan head, in a recent interview.
“Under the law, only indigent seniors are entitled to receive the monthly social pension,” she said. “The Osca will have the applications well-validated.”
The applicant must not be a recipient of pensions from the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, or veterans’ pension, Cumba said.
“Also, the applicant must have no regular source of income or financial support from relatives,” she said.
Physically handicaped and sickly seniors who have no financial sources may also qualify, she added.
The Osca conducts very detailed investigations since the office had numerous experiences of seniors applying for the social pension who are recipients of other government pensions, Cumba said.
“It will violate the provision of RA [Republic Act] 9994,” she noted.
The age requirement was lowered by the DSWD from 77 to 65 to cover more seniors, she said.
“Starting this year, eligible seniors, 65 years of age and above, will receive the monthly social pension,” she said.
Under RA 9994, also known as the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, seniors aged 60 and older shall receive a monthly social pension under the government’s protection program for seniors.
But due to limited resources, the department set the minimum age requirement at 77 years old until 2014, Cumba said.
San Juan seniors, aged below 77, have been clamoring for years to lower the minimum age requirement, said Teresa T. Tongol, a senior citizens barangay association leader in the city.
The seniors in the city have constantly wailed over the minimum age requirement of 77 years old, she added.
“How can the seniors avail themselves of the social pension if some are dying at the age of 60?” Tongol said.
Eligible seniors will start receiving the monthly stipend this year, Cumba noted. The DSWD will have it delivered to the address of the recipient.
Osca estimated over 1, 000 seniors in San Juan will receive the social pension, she added. The office has set the goal to cover a total of 2,154 seniors this year.
The social welfare’s proposal to lower the minimum age requirement was approved by both houses of Congress, she added.
The General Appropriation Act of 2015 is inclusive of the monthly social pension for senior citizens. The government has allocated over P5 billion for the social pension of seniors across the country.
Image credits: OLIVER SAMSON