MANILA, Philippines — Some 3,209 elderly residents in Valenzuela City received their P3,000 social pension on the first day of payout on Monday, to help tide them over during the lockdown.
“The COVID-19 (new coronavirus disease) pandemic has greatly affected senior citizens. Since the declaration of the enhanced community quarantine in mid-March, … they have been barred from going outside and leaving their residences as the virus poses more health risks to their age group,” the city’s public information office said in a statement.
It added that the elderly who had working children were denied cash assistance from the national government even as the pandemic depleted people’s savings.
As of Tuesday, only around 1,630 elderly residents had yet to collect their pension from the City Social Welfare and Development Office.
Indigent senior citizens are entitled to a P500 monthly stipend — usually distributed every six months — for their medical needs under Republic Act No. 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.