Poor senior citizens under the Social Pension Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development will be receiving an additional cash aid this year.

DSWD Regional Director Arnel Garcia said that around 2.8 million Social Pensioners nationwide will soon to benefit in the added assistance under the government’s Unconditional Cash Transfer Program (UCT) as integrated into Republic Act 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.

The TRAIN is the first package of the comprehensive tax reform program (CTRP) envisioned by President Duterte’s administration, which aims to correct a number of deficiencies in the tax system to make it simpler, fairer, and more efficient.

The UCT on the other hand is a social welfare program under the TRAIN Law which seeks to provide cash grants to poor households and individuals who may benefit from the lower income tax rates but may be adversely affected by the increase on taxes on fuel, automobiles, and sugar products.

Under the program, the senior citizens under the Social Pension Program are eligible beneficiaries including the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) households, and the poor households identified by the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) or the Listahanan. The UCT cash grant shall be provided one-time to the identified beneficiaries amounting to Php 2,400 in a year or Php 200 per month. This grant will increase in 2019-2020 to Php 3,600 or Php 300 per month.

Director Garcia explained that a Social Pension beneficiary shall be entitled to a separate UCT grant even if he/she belongs to a 4Ps household or Listahanan identified poor household.

He said that there are 195, 107 active Social Pension beneficiaries in Bicol Region who will benefit from the new program. The department targets to distribute the cash grants in July –August 2018.

The Social Pension Program is the government’s assistance to poor senior citizens aging 60 years old and above who are frail, sick or with a disability, with no regular income or support from families and relatives, and without a pension from private or government institutions.

Under the program, poor seniors are entitled to a monthly cash grant in the amount of Php 500 to supplement their daily subsistence, including their medical needs.

The program has been established through Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 which aims to improve the living condition of indigent senior citizens and to protect them from neglect and deprivation.##