An elderly man is wheeled into a vaccination area inside V-Mall in San Juan city on Friday, May 20, 2022, to get his second booster shot. (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) handed over on Thursday the implementation of the Assistance to Older Persons (ATOP) program to the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC).
The transfer of functions from the DSWD to the NCSC was formalized in a memorandum of agreement signed at the DSWD Central Office in Quezon city.
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“We all agreed to have this ceremony because it is the more symbolic way of doing it. We can just let it go. We can just exchange papers through but it’s a step towards the right direction,” DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said during the ceremony, as quoted in a statement released by the department.
“We believe that it may be a small step, but it’s a giant leap towards that direction of finally empowering NCSC to fulfill the mandate prescribed by law,” he noted.
The DSWD added the remaining P1.7 million in funds allotted to the ATOP for its programs, projects, and activities were transferred to the NCSC.
Among the initiatives under the ATOP are the support for the Senior Citizens Sectoral Council of the National Anti-Poverty Commission; the celebration of Elderly Filipino Week; the support for the Federation of Senior Citizens Associations of the Philippines, Inc.; and leading the Regional Coordinating and Monitoring Board and Regional Inter-Agency for Senior Citizens.
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“Ipapasa ito sa inyo. Alagaan ninyo ito nang mabuti. Naniniwala ako na mapapalagunin ninyo ito and later on, we can start talking about the bigger programs or the bigger PAPs in the department,” Gatchalian said, addressing the NCSC.
(It will be passed on to you. Take good care of it. I believe that you can make it work, and later on, we can start talking about the bigger programs or the bigger PAPs in the department.)
He added the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens program and the implementation of the Centenarians Act of 2016, currently handled by the DSWD, will also be transferred to the NCSC soon.