Councilor Celia Matea Flor, chair of the committee on Senior Citizens and Veteran Affairs sought for an an increase in the number of beneficiaries and budget allocation for social pension for the senior citizens of Bacolod City.
In a resolution filed before the city council, Flor pushed for more seniors to benefit from the National fund so it can help and cover more senior citizens when the council passed its local social pension fund.
As of April 2022, only 2,713 of the 40,000 estimated senior citizens of Bacolod City have benefitted from the social pension program of the national government through the Department of Social Welfare and Development, she said.
According to Flor in the case of Iloilo City it has pension for 13,000 senior citizens, while more than 60,000 of Davao City’s senior citizens. Flor hopes that that the DSWD through Sec. Erwin Tulfo would increase the number of our beneficiaries in Bacolod.
Currently, there is an ongoing validation of the senior citizens’ database in every barangay that will be the basis of a local ordinance on Social Pension that she will file.
