(Mula P500 sa P1k) PENSION NG SENIORS DOBLEHIN

PINADODOBLE ng isang kongresista ang monthly social pension ng indigent senior citizens sa P1,000 mula P500.

Isinagawa ni Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez ang panukala sa ilalim ng kanyang House Bill 7266 na nag-aamyenda sa Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, kung saan binigyang-diin niya na napapanahon ang hakbang sa gitna ng COVID-19 pandemic.>

“P500 a month is not much. It’s not even enough for basic maintenance medicines,” giit ni Rodriguez.

Bukod sa katiting na halaga, sinabi ni Rodriguez na 29 percent lamang ng 7.5 million hanggang 8 million na senior Filipino citizens ang tumatanggap ng allowance dahil sa mahigpit na requirements.

Sa ilalim ng umiiral na batas, “a senior citizen can qualify for the social pension if he is frail, sickly or with disability, and without pension or permanent source of income, compensation or financial assistance from his/her relatives to support his/her basic needs, as determined by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.”

Ayon kay Rodriguez, dahil sa paghihigpit na ito ay milyong senior citizens ang napapagkaitan ng social pension na dapat nilang matanggap.

Sa ilalim ng kanyang panukala ay pinatatanggal ni Rodriguez ang pariralang ‘frail, sickly and with disability and without pension or assistance from relatives’.

Sa halip, nakasaad sa panukala ni Rodriguez na, “a senior citizen will be deemed qualified to receive a P1,000 monthly social pension as long as the senior citizen does not receive a pension from a public or private entity worth P4,000 or less in a month.”

“The objective of the law is to recognize the rights of senior citizens to take their proper place in society and make it a concern of the family, community and government, and to give full support to the improvement of the total well-being of the elderly and their full participation in society,” aniya.

Nauna na ring ipinanukala ni Rodriguez ang pagpapatupad ng P1,000 hike sa buwanang tinatanggap ng Social Security System pensioners.