Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte has appealed to the Departments of Finance (DOF) and Budget and Management (DBM) to exert their “optimum effort” in looking for enough funds to enable the Marcos administration to possibly carry out fully beginning this year new amendatory law doubling to P1,000 the monthly social pension of more than 4 million indigent elderly Filipinos.
And to ensure the sustainability of this subsidy increase in 2023 at least—as provided for in the new measure that lapsed into law (Republic Act or RA No. 11916—Villafuerte called on his fellow legislators to tuck in a sufficient yearlong amount for this targeted cash transfer in next year’s General Appropriations Act (GAA), in support of the social welfare agenda of President Marcos.
Villafuerte said the DOF and DBM face this tough task together as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) was reported last week as requesting for additional funds for its cash aid program, as the P10 billion thus far released to the DSWD is insufficient for its targeted subsidies for different sectors.
“We are appealing to the DOF and DBM to apply their optimum effort in rummaging for funds in the national government’s available appropriations for the remainder of 2022 or to realign accessible outlays in the national budget to fund the increase in the monthly pension of over 4 million senior citizens from P500 to the adjusted amount of P1,000 as set by RA 11916,” Villafuerte said.
A co-author of RA 11916 which mandates the pension hike for the elderly, Villafuerte also implored members of the House of Representatives and Senate to “make sure that the Marcos administration has the wherewithal to bankroll this pension hike for indigent Filipino seniors in the coming year by making it a point to tuck in the sufficient amount for this purpose in the proposed GAA for 2023, in support of the social welfare agenda of the President.”
“It will be too bad,” he said, “if RA 11916, which Malacañang has allowed lapsing into law, will end up being a great but unfunded program because the DOF and DBM had failed to identify funds for its implementation, even if indigent senior Filipinos are among the sectors in dire need of state subsidies to help them cope with soaring commodity prices and palliate the economic scarring caused by COVID-19.”
RA 11916 amended RA 7432 provided for a universal social pension for elderly Filipinos and RA 9994 granted additional benefits and privileges to senior citizens.
Villafuerte said the DOF and DBM face this tough task together as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) was reported last week as requesting additional funds for its cash aid program, as the P10 billion thus far released to the DSWD is insufficient for its targeted subsidies for different sectors.
DSWD Assistant Secretary Rommel Lopez said the DBM and DOF need to provide more funds because the around P10-billion fund released so far for this Department is not enough.
“Yun ang hinihiling din po natin sana sa ating DBM, DOF, sana madagdagan pa yung pondo nang sa ganun maabot yung first tranche and then makapag-proceed na po. Supposed to be nasa second tranche na tayo,” Lopez was reported as saying in a media interview.
Villafuerte said the implementation of targeted subsidies is a must amid the pandemic-driven economic crunch as Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan himself said the release of such cash aid to low-income families cushions the effect on them of the high prices of oil and other commodities.
“The timely release of the fund is crucial in the government’s efforts to help the poor cope with the continuous rise in commodity prices due to external shocks and other factors,” Balisacan said in a statement, explaining that this is a key intervention to protect the purchasing power of the poor as part of the Marcos administration’s 8-point socioeconomic agenda.
“Our near-term goal as envisioned in our 8-point agenda is to safeguard Filipinos against the most pressing issues today, which are rising inflation and the lingering socioeconomic scarring caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Balisacan said.
For her part, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said our economic managers would study the proposed measures on targeted cash transfers and “come up with a position at the right time. We will have to thoroughly study these bills first to get the magnitude and if it’s consistent with the administration’s priority programs. We will be in close coordination with the rest of the members of the economic team—what we can do to respond to requested budget requirements, such as those created due to the enactment of new laws.”
The law-mandated doubling of the monthly subsidy for the elderly will cost the government roughly P50 billion annually, given that there are already 4 million-plus beneficiaries and there will be a significant number of Filipinos who have turned or will turn 60 years old this and will hence be eligible for inclusion in this social pension program.
Under this new law, private enterprises that will employ senior citizens as employees, upon the effectivity of this Act, shall be entitled to an additional deduction from their gross income, equivalent to 15% of the total amount paid as salaries and wages to these elderly workers, subject to the provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), as amended, Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte pointed out that the Senate approved last May 30 its version (Senate Bill or SB 2506) of this proposal to increase the monthly pension of the elderly from P500 to P1,000.
He added that the law provides, though, that for these private employers to avail of this tax break, such employment shall continue for a period of at least 6 months, and that the annual income of these senior citizens does not exceed the latest poverty threshold as published by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) for that year.
He said the new law provides for other release or distribution options for the pension other than a cash payout, the transaction fee of which will no longer be charged to the beneficiary seniors.
Quoting from the law, he said “the monthly stipend shall be released to target beneficiaries either in cash, direct remittance through the engagement of a service provider duly accredited by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), electronic transfer, or other modes of delivery, whichever is more practical and acceptable to the beneficiary, ensuring its release in the most expeditious and efficient manner.”
RA 11196 transfers from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) the job of distributing the monthly pension to the beneficiary-senior citizens, Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte said RA 11916 directs the DSWD, and upon full transfer of its functions over this social pension program to the NCSC, to update and validate the list of target beneficiaries on an annual basis.
This updating and validating process shall be done, he added, with the assistance of the PSA, through the Community-based Monitoring System that was put up for this Office under RA 11315.
Villafuerte said, “Legislated measures have been provided by the State to help guarantee the safety and security of our senior citizens, but, unfortunately, most of them face financial problems as they are unable to work for a living or have no monthly pension—or both. And with inflation and the ever-rising living standards, it is getting harder and harder for our senior citizens to live as comfortably as they can in their golden age, especially after the inimical impact of the pandemic.”
“Considering that financial support from pensions such as the Social Security System (SSS) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) have proven not enough or insufficient, the increase in their monthly pension to P1,000 will somehow lighten the financial burden of our elders,’ Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte’s version of this proposal—House Bill (HB) 4650—was one of the similar bills incorporated into the substitute bill (HB 9459) that the House had approved on the third and final reading in the past Congress.
Villafuerte pointed out that the Senate approved last May 30 its version (Senate Bill or SB 2506) of this proposal to increase the monthly pension of the elderly from P500 to P1,000.
The House then adopted the Senate-approved bill the day after on May 31, he said, to do away with the bicameral conference committee (bicam) process that would have required both chambers to hold bicam talks to reconcile both versions and come up with a consolidated bill before the 18th Congress formally adjourned sine die last June 4.
