ORMOC CITY – A total of 1,185 Ormocanon senior citizen beneficiaries from the first and second batches of District 5 received their social pension (SocPen) as part of the First and Second Quarter Social Pension Payout for Calendar Year (CY) 2025 on June 2, 2025 at the Barangay Cagbuhangin covered court.
The four-day distribution activity saw program beneficiaries receiving PHP6,000 each for the two quarters. The distribution was spearheaded by the local government of Ormoc, through its Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA).
SocPen is for indigent senior citizens who are frail, sickly, or with disability, and without a pension or permanent source of income, compensation or financial assistance from relatives to support their basic needs.
A total of 149 program beneficiaries came from Barangay San Jose, 140 from Guintigui-an, 108 from Maticaa, 103 from Sabang Bao, 102 from Valencia, 75 from Kadaohan, 62 from Cagbuhangin, 60 from Labrador, 55 from Nasunogan, 49 from Monterico and Juaton, 48 from Concepcion, 45 from Don Potenciano Larrazabal and Bayog, 41 from Catmon, 30 from Cabulihan, and 24 from Hibunaon.
Indigent senior citizens receive their social pension on a monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly basis, instead of the previous semestral or every six months payout, to ensure that the social pension will be received by the beneficiaries more frequently rather than every six months only, an official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said on August 29, 2024.
The Social Pension is an additional government assistance under Republic Act No. 9994, or the “Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010,” which provided for a monthly stipend amounting to PHP500.00 to indigent senior citizens as augmentation for their daily subsistence and medical needs.
As mandated by Republic Act 11916, also known as “An Act Increasing the Social Pension of Senior Citizens,” which lapsed into law in July 2022, indigent senior citizens are now entitled to a monthly stipend of PHP1,000.00, up from the previous PHP500.00 per month, starting January 2024.
Aside from being at least 60 years old, beneficiaries of the DSWD Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens (SPISC) need to be a Filipino citizen and a resident of the Philippines for at least six months, with no permanent source of income, no regular support from family or relatives, and not receiving a pension from the Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), Armed Forces and Police Mutual Benefit Association, Inc., or any other insurance company. (By Gwen Maurillo/EV Mail June 2-8, 2025 issue)
