City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) Officer IV Charlo Costales explained that 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.
Based on Republic Act No. 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2003, underprivileged elders are entitled to receive P500 monthly pension which is given every quarter of the year for a total of P1,500 per quarter.
“Ang national government pa rin ang nag-iidentify ng mga mabibigyan ng soc-pen dito sa Mabalacat City. Ang CSWD naman ag nagva-validate kung buhay pa ang mga identified seniors na ito (The national government identifies the beneficiaries. The CSWD, in turn, validates if the beneficiaries are still alive),” Costales said.
Office of the Senior Citizen’s Affairs (OSCA) head Rizalino Tuazon appealed to the city government for additional funding that will be used for social concerns of some elderlies in this city.
There are around 14,000 poor senior citizens in this city.
“Dahil dakal la reng lalapit at manyad saup keng OSCA, megrequest ku keng budget tamu keng (Because there are a lot of elderlies coming and asking for help from the OSCA, I have requested for additional budget from the) Gender and Development(GAD) to grant P600,000 for 200 selected seniors who shall receive P500 for six months, and if approved will take effect this month,” he said.
Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales vowed to allocate P5 million for the construction of a 500-square meter senior citizens’ center which will be located in Barangay Mabiga.
“Ing gagawan mi keng OSCA, dede-list mila reng individuals na manikwa ng sustentu fom SSS/GSIS or patse atin wrong spelling kareng lagyu da, gagawa kaming certificate of correction. The problem with the master list is ali ya ma-uupdate kaya lately mahigit lang 90 reng e midinan although makakayabe la keng listahan What we do in OSCA is we delist all individuals that are already getting pension from the SSS/GSIS or when there is a wrong spelling in their names we make a certificate of correction),” he added.
“Disabled, sickly, frail, no permanent source of income and no regular support from anyone in the family are the priorities to be the beneficiaries of the social pension,” Tuazon said.
