BAGUIO CITY: Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda has proposed an ordinance seeking to provide a monthly stipend amounting to P500.00 to qualified indigent senior citizens in the Summer Capital. The proposed measure shall create a local counterpart of the national government's social pension program called the 'Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens.' The said program has been institutionalized in compliance with Section 5 (Social Pension) of Republic Act 9994 or the 'Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010' and is being implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development in partnership with the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO). Under the said provision, indigent senior citizens shall be 'entitled to a monthly stipend amounting to P500.00 to augment the daily subsistence and other medical needs of senior citizens who are beneficiaries of the said program.' Tabanda said the city government recognizes the need for indigent senior citizens to be granted financial assistance from all available sources. 'Many of these indigent senior citizens are unemployed and not receiving financial support from their families, relatives, or any institution. Some simply share resources with other family members,' she stated.For its initial implementation, the Local Senior Social Pension Program shall have 3,000 qualified indigent senior citizens as beneficiaries. The implementing guidelines of the program shall be formulated by an ad hoc committee composed of the CSWDO and the OSCA. The proposed ordinance has been referred to the Sanggunian's Committee on Social Services, Women, and Urban Poor for review.
