3 million senior citizens get TRAIN subsidy

MANILA, Philippines — Some three million senior citizens are qualified to receive an additional P200 per month this year as part of the tax reform law’s unconditional cash grant for poor Filipinos.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) officer-in-charge Emmanuel Leyco said indigent senior citizens who are part of the government’s social pension program will receive a lump sum of P2,400 in March on top of their monthly pension amounting to P500.

The additional cash grant is provided in the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law to offset the possible price increase of basic commodities due to new taxes imposed on various products.

The qualified senior citizens are among the 10 million Filipino beneficiaries of the unconditional cash grant that also include beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

Leyco said the subsidy will increase to P300 per month in in 2018 and 2019.

In a statement yesterday, the DSWD clarified that not all senior citizens are qualified to receive the TRAIN subsidy and the P500 monthly pension.

“The law specifies that seniors qualified to receive the P500 monthly pension under the social pension program of the department are those who are frail, sickly or with disability; without any pension from other government agencies; and without a permanent source of income or source of financial assistance/compensation to support their basic needs,” the agency said.

“Inasmuch as DSWD would want to include all senior citizens, the budget for the social pension program is limited,” it added.

The DSWD said it has a fund allocation of almost P20 million for the monthly social pension.

“Although issues of exclusion and inclusion may happen somewhere, the final list should still be validated by DSWD. Furthermore, the department’s regional offices are constantly monitoring the implementation of the program,” Leyco said.

“If you hear of or witness any anomaly, report this immediately to any DSWD regional office or inform us through our social media accounts. Rest assured that we do not tolerate any corrupt practice in our program/project implementation,” he added.

Ratify the journal

In a related development, the House of Representatives has approved its journal of proceedings for its session last Dec. 13, when it ratified the TRAIN.

The journal showed there was no objection to the ratification of the conference committee report on the measure.

The approval of the record of proceedings on Monday night was obviously in preparation for answering the petition of opposition congressmen filed last week with the Supreme Court questioning the TRAIN bill’s ratification.

Lead petitioner Rep. Carlos Zarate of Bayan Muna said the conference committee report on the bill was ratified without the presence of a quorum and without a vote.

His colleagues in the Makabayan bloc promptly criticized the approval of the journal.

“The Dec. 13 House journal contains the bogus ratification of the bicameral report on Duterte’s anti-poor tax reform law. We call it bogus because there was no quorum when the TRAIN bicam report was taken up and swiftly approved a few minutes before 10 p.m. on Dec. 13, there was no actual voting, be it nominal or viva voce, and ACT (Alliance of Concerned Teachers) Rep. Antonio Tinio’s objection was not recognized,” Gabriela Reps. Emmi de Jesus and Arlene Brosas said.

“The approved journal did not indicate any of these, falsely claiming that there was no objection when the House video documentation indicates otherwise… But history will judge them for ramming a patently anti-poor tax measure down the people’s throats, and for doing away with due process and any semblance of democratic debate,” they said.

They said what the House did with the TRAIN bill “sets a very grim precedent to what this chamber can railroad in the coming days – Charter change, postponement of national and local elections, total sellout of the Philippine economy.”

Higher prices

Women groups also decried the impact of the TRAIN on the agriculture sector and on the daily cost of living.

The National Federation of Peasant Women (Amihan) said the farmer and fisherfolk families, whose incomes depend on production yield, are the biggest losers.

“The additional excise tax on petroleum products ranging from P3 to P7 per liter will directly increase the cost of production as most farm and fishing equipment in agricultural production are largely dependent on the use of diesel and gasoline from fishing operations, land preparation, planting, harvesting, post-harvest and transportation,” Amihan chairperson Zen Soriano explained.

Soriano said the increase in the cost of production is burdensome for the farmers as the buying price of palay remains at P17 per kilo.

“It exacerbates the persistent problems of lack of government’s support through irrigation, farm inputs and facilities,” Soriano said.

Effect on fuel

Malacañang downplayed the criticisms against the TRAIN Law, citing the increase in fuel prices is brought about by the movement of oil prices in the international market, not the new tax law.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque tried to soften the impact of the imposition of excise taxes on the TRAIN law by pointing out that the movement of gasoline prices was due to higher demand and tension in Iran.

Roque assured the public that the Department of Energy (DOE) is on the lookout for gas stations taking advantage of the implementation of the new law by increasing their prices at once.

“Our energy officials are closely monitoring oil depots and gas stations to ensure fairness and utmost protection to consumers in the implementation of the law,” he said. – With Jess Diaz, Rhodina Villanueva, Christina Mendez

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