The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported on Wednesday that over 3.7 million indigent senior citizens received a monthly pension of P1,000 from January to June 2024. This pension distribution, totaling P21.8 billion, was provided to 3,723,323 seniors nationwide.
Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Irene Dumlao explained that the DSWD delivers the pension in a lump sum of P6,000 every six months. This increase in pension, mandated by Republic Act No. 11916, doubled the previous amount from P500 to P1,000 monthly.
The Department of Budget and Management allocated P49.807 billion to support this increased allowance for indigent senior citizens, nearly doubling the previous year’s budget of P25.30 billion.
To qualify for the pension, beneficiaries must be 60 years or older, frail, sickly, without a regular income or family support, and not receiving any pensions from the Government Service Insurance System, the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, the Social Security System, or private companies.
According to the 2020 census by the Philippine Statistics Authority, the country has around 9.22 million senior citizens, with four million of them lacking government pensions, regular income, or family support.