MANILA, Philippines — The monthly pension received by senior citizens should be doubled from P500 to P1,000, Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said Friday.
Under House Bill No. 7266, which seeks to amend Republic Act No. 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, Rodriguez said that the allowance should at least be doubled to help senior citizens, especially during the pandemic.
“P500 a month is not much. It’s not even enough for basic maintenance medicines,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also pointed out that the current law is “very restrictive,” saying that only 29 percent of the 7.5 million to eight million senior Filipino citizens receive the allowance.
Under the law, a senior citizen can only qualify for the stipend if he is “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” as determined by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Thus, under Rodriguez’ proposed bill, the lawmaker removed the phrase “frail, sickly and with disability” and without pension or assistance from relatives.
In his proposal, Rodriguez said the only qualification is that a recipient is not receiving a pension from any public or private pension of more than P4,000 a month.
“The objective of the law is to recognize the rights of senior citizens to take their proper place in society and make it a concern of the family, community, and government, and to give full support to the improvement of the total well-being of the elderly and their full participation in society,” Rodriguez said.
Earlier, Rodriguez urged the Social Security System to release the additional P1,000 in the monthly pension of private-sector retirees.