A bill seeking to increase the monthly social pension of indigent senior citizens is now a law, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said Tuesday.
Villanueva, who sponsored the measure in the 18th Congress, shared a copy from the Office of the President dated 1 August which stated that the proposed measure lapsed into law on 30 July.
Under the Republic Act No. 11916 or An Act Increasing Social Pension of Indigent Senior Citizens Bill, qualified seniors are entitled to a monthly social pension of not less than P1,000 from their P500 monthly social pension.
The measure also transfers the implementation, distribution, and management of the social pension for senior citizens from the Department of Social Welfare and Development to the National Commission of Senior Citizens within a period not exceeding three years.
It also stated that stipends should be given in cash via authorized channels and should be free of any charges.
During his manifestation, Villanueva described the passage of the measure as his “best birthday gift.”
“This is indeed a great legacy of the 18th Congress. This is also the best gift of the current administration to all of the elderlies, especially to the more or less four million Filipinos aged 60 years old, who have nothing to rely on aside from their monthly pension,” said Villanueva, who turned 47 Tuesday.
“Another year has been added to my life today, and all the more we see the need to care for our aging population, especially our beloved senior citizens,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sen. Grace Poe, who is the principal author of the law, expressed her gratitude to her colleagues for their support of the measure.
“As principal author of the measure, I thank my colleagues for supporting this important and long-overdue legislation,” Poe said.
“But this would not have been possible if not for the steadfast commitment and able leadership of Sen. Joel Villanueva during his chairmanship of the committee on social justice, welfare and rural development last Congress,” she added.
The lady senator also extended her gratitude to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for “recognizing and acting on the needs of our senior citizens.”
The Senate Bill No. 2506 or the Social Pension of Indigent Senior Citizens Bill was approved on third and final reading last 31 May, and adopted by the House of Representatives the following day.