P86M allotted for social pensioners in Cordillera

By Joseph Zambrano

BAGUIO CITY-- A  budget of P86,172,000  is allotted  for  a total of 9,661 senior citizens in the Social Pension Program (SSP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)- Cordillera for the year 2014.  

According to DSWD regional director  Leonardo Reynoso, the province of Abra  has the most number of social pensioners with  2,853 followed by Kalinga  with 1,651.

Apayao   has 1,292 social pensioners;  Mountain Province-1,241; Benguet-1,222 and the province of Ifugao with 1,192.

Baguio City  has the least number of pensioners with 208.

The P500 monthly stipend is provided to indigent, frail, disabled or sickly senior citizens aged 77 years old and above.

 The SSP distribution is intended to augment the basic needs of senior citizens, including medicine and other nutritional and health needs. 

In 2012, there were  6,328 social pensioners in the region, and  in 2013 there were 9,661.  

The social pension expansion, Reynoso said, is a result of the intensified efforts of the government to provide social services and assistance to the disadvantaged sector of the society while providing incentive to those who have exerted efforts to improve themselves.