(PIA-NCR file photo of a senior citizen.)
QUEZON CITY, (PIA) — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will prosecute perpetrators of text message and online scams deceiving senior citizens or other vulnerable sectors. According to DSWD Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez, the agency has coordinated with the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Information and Communication Technology to go after these fraudulent schemes aimed at unsuspecting elderly victims.
“We want to catch them. We want to file a case against them so we can stop the proliferation of these activities,” Lopez said in a media interview. The move comes after the National Commission on Senior Citizens (NCSC) recently clarified disinformation spread on social media and via text about social pension benefits. Various posts falsely claimed seniors would receive increased cash aid.
The scammers leveraged the news on the expanded social pension law to lend legitimacy. “They’re trying to victimize senior citizens because they’re not tech-savvy,” said Lopez, adding that DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian gave clear orders to apprehend the scammers.
The DSWD official also urged seniors and families to directly validate with their respective local government unit (LGU) or DSWD any news on government assistance programs to avoid being duped.
The DSWD maintained that it will continue to safeguard the elderly and low-income Filipinos from predatory schemes that take advantage of the vulnerable by warning citizens and pursuing legal action.
It can be recalled that the NCSC addressed the misinformation, which falsely claimed that senior citizens would receive P1,000 monthly or P3,000 quarterly under the NCSC, no longer under the DSWD. Contrary to this claim, the existing social pension program, managed by DSWD regional offices, provides indigent senior citizens with a P500 monthly allowance, disbursed at P3,000 twice a year.
NCSC Commissioner Reymar Mansilungan, in a video statement on their website, clarified three crucial points for senior citizens. Firstly, non-pensioners won’t receive P1,000 monthly as the law (Republic Act 9994 – Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010) only grants social pensions to indigent senior citizens and has not yet been amended. Secondly, despite a 2022 amendment (Republic Act 11916) increasing the amount to P1,000, it took effect after the 2023 budget submission to Congress.
Addressing another misconception, Mansilungan clarified that the Office of Senior Citizen Affairs (OSCA) would not be transferred to the NCSC; OSCA remains under the LGU. (PIA-NCR)
Watch the NCSC video here:
