Former Quezon City Councilor Jorge Banal, president of the Federation of Senior Citizens Associations of the Philippines-QC chapter, called on the Senate to adopt the House version of the universal social pension program.

Under the bill approved by the House Committee on Appropriations last week, all senior citizens in the country, excluding those already included in the list of recipients under the current social pension program, shall be entitled to a PHP500 monthly pension from the government.

On Wednesday (May 15), the Lower House Committee Appropriations approved the bill after its authors agreed to reduce the amount of monthly social pension from PHP1,000 to PHP500.

The House panel believes that government will only have to allocated PHP89 billion to implement the measure, representing half of the original amount proposed by congressmen.

“We hope our Senate will support the bill that will extend financial assistance to the millions of senior citizens in dire need of cash for their vital needs such as medicine and food,” said Banal.

The former QC legislator noted that many of the beneficiaries of the proposed universal pension program are senior citizens who have been disqualified from receiving the PHP1,000 monthly pension under the current aid program.

“Their applications have been rejected because many of them are already receiving pension from either the GSIS and the SSS. We should realize that what they receive in monthly pension is not enough even to cover half of their medical expenses or food,” he said.

Unlike the Lower House, Senate has not yet acted on the pending Universal Social Pension program proposal filed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros.

United Senior Citizens Partylist Rep. Mila Aquino-Magsaysay, a principal author of the bill, said at least seven million elderly Filipinos will receive the PHP500 pension regardless of their stature in life as soon as the legislative proposal becomes a law.

“We do not expect any hitches for the passage of the bill here in the Lower House. However, it would be best for us here to pursue a swift approval and have it transmitted to the Senate for its action,” said Aquino-Magsaysay.

The appropriations panel approved the budgetary provision of the consolidated bill which would require government to allocate some PHP89 billion annually for its implementation.

Aquino-Magsaysay said the 4,085,000 indigent senior citizens already enrolled in the Social Pension Program will not benefit from the USPP but will continue to receive the PHP1,000 in monthly pension from the government.