Senior citizens receive 3rd quarter pension

CEBU, Philippines - Some 470 poor senior citizen beneficiaries in Mandaue City have received their third quarter social pension amounting to P1,500 from the national government.

Michael Pielago, Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs Focal Person, yesterday said the recipients were identified through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR).

The NHTS-PR is a database of poor households who are potential beneficiaries of social protection programs from the government.

"Actually we have guidelines from DSWD-7 kung kinsa tong mga qualified nga senior citizens nga makadawat niining social pension. We have criterias nga gisunod sa pagpili sa mga benificiaries, sama sa indigents, non-pensioner, ug kinahanglan nga senior citizen gyud siya," Pielago said.

The Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 spells out the qualifications to social pension beneficiaries that covers 60 years old and above, those without livelihood, those without families that provide their food, and those not receiving pensions from government institutions like the SSS, GSIS and PVAO.

Based on the records of OSCA, there are at least 16,708 senior citizens in the city.

Under the city ordinance, each senior citizen will annually receive P6,000 financial assistance from the city government which will be given in three installments. (FREEMAN)