With the adjournment of session this week, the United Senior Citizens Party-list on Thursday called the non-passage of the universal social pension bill in the Senate as a “missed opportunity.”
“Nakakapanghinayang na nakabinbin pa rin ang panukalang universal social pension sa kabila ng pagkilos ng nagkakaisang senior citizens sa buong bansa upang ipanawagan ito. This is definitely a missed opportunity, but all is not lost,” United Senior Citizens Party-list Rep. Milagros Aquino-Magsaysay said.
The solon said that the Senate could still pass Senate Bill No. 141 or the Act Granting Universal Social Pension to All Senior Citizens, which is pending at the committee level.
The universal social pension bill seeks to grant a monthly pension of P500 to all elderly Filipinos, not just indigent seniors. Its counterpart in the House of Representatives, House Bill No. 10423, had already been passed on third and final reading last year.
Magsaysay also expressed her hope that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. would certify the measure as urgent.
“The Senate still has two weeks to pass SBN 141 upon the resumption of session on June 2,” Magsaysay said.
The lawmaker emphasized the need for the elderly sector to continue clamoring for the bill’s passage.
“Sa universal social pension, hindi lang mga nakatatanda ang makikinabang. Pati ang mga pamilya nila ay matutulungan din dahil makapagaambag ang mga lolo’t lola sa panggastos ng pamilya. Sa harap ng pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin, malaki ang maitutulong nito, kaya umaasa tayong makikinig ang Senado sa ating hinaing,” Magsaysay said.
Magsaysay also expressed her hope that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. would certify the measure as urgent.
“An urgent certification would greatly help as this could give the Senate enough time to pass the universal social pension bill from the committee level, and then fast-track its second and third reading passage,” she said.
Bills certified as urgent can bypass a rule requiring that there be at least three session days between the 2nd and 3rd reading passage, the lawmaker added.
