LANAO DEL SUR (PIA) — The Bangsamoro Government, through the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD), began distributing increased social pensions (SocPen) to 64,939 indigent senior citizens across Lanao del Sur, including Marawi City, on June 17.
Republic Act 11916, also known as the SocPen for Indigent Seniors Act, came into effect on July 30, 2022, and raised the pensions from P500 to P1,000 monthly per senior citizen.
Amerah Amer, MSSD-Lanao del Sur’s Project Development Officer for the SocPen Program, emphasized the need for the increase due to rising costs of essential goods like food and medicine.
“Nag-increase po tayo [social pension] from P500 to P1,000 a month dahil nakikita po natin na nahihirapan ang ating mga senior citizen dahil sa pagtaas ng presyo ng mga pagkain gaya ng bigas at ng kanilang gamot,” Amer said.
(We increased the social pension from P500 to P1,000 a month because we saw that our senior citizens were struggling due to the rising prices of food like rice and their medicine.)
Abdulazis Batara, Chairman of the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) in the municipality of Tamparan, expressed gratitude, stating that this is a significant help for poor senior citizens, particularly those with medical needs.
“Ang indigent senior citizens ng Municipality of Tamparan ay lubos pong nagpapasalamat sa ating gobyerno sa pagtaas ng aming natatanggap na social pension. Napakalaki po itong tulong sa amin dahil hindi na kaming masyadong mahihirapan sa pagbili ng aming maintenance na gamot,” said Batara.
(The indigent senior citizens of the Municipality of Tamparan are very grateful to our government for increasing our social pension. This is a huge help to us because we will no longer struggle as much to buy our maintenance medicine.)
According to Potre Nor-Aliah Bubong, regional focal person of the SocPen Program, the Bangsamoro region’s target beneficiaries this year are 173,408 senior citizens, and the budget for social pensions exceeds P2 billion.
MSSD implements the SocPen Program, a nationally funded government initiative that aims to enhance the living conditions of senior citizen beneficiaries. Target recipients include those aged 60 and above, frail, sickly, disabled, lacking a stable income, not receiving any other pension, and without regular family support. Through these efforts, the government aims to prevent the neglect, abuse, or deprivation of senior citizens in marginalized communities. (BIO/PIA-10 Lanao del Sur)
