The government will prioritize the distribution of financial aid to indigent senior citizens over those already receiving private pension, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said yesterday.
Nograles clarified that pensioners belonging to well-off families will be excluded from the government’s two-month emergency subsidy program during the coronavirus quarantine period.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development recently started distributing cash subsidy to low-income families in line with the “Bayanihan” law signed by President Duterte.
“‘Yung senior citizens are excluded, siguro ito yung mga senior citizens na may natatanggap na pension. Kung may pension sila, then of course, I’m not talking about social pension, may tinatanggap na pension benefits noong sila pa nagtatrabaho o pension benefits from other sources, ang uunahin na senior citizens siyempre ‘yung mga indigent, indigent senior citizens, ‘yung senior citizens na tumatanggap na social pension mula sa DSWD,” Nograles said.
“Siguro kaya may na-e-exclude na senior citizens dahil ‘yun ang mga senior citizens na mayroon namang natatanggap na pension na hind social pension ng DSWD,” said Nograles, spokesman of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Duterte recently launched a P200-billion emergency subsidy program for 18 million low-income households to help them cope with the impact of the coronavirus lockdown. The subsidy, ranging from P5,000 to P8,000, will depend on the minimum wage of a region.
The target beneficiaries are low-income families with at least one member belonging to vulnerable sectors such as senior citizens, persons with disability, pregnant or lactating women, OFWs in distress, indigent indigenous peoples, underprivileged sector and homeless citizens, and informal economy workers.
According to Nograles, the emergency subsidy program aims to help the “poorest of the poor” cope with the latest public health crisis. Well-off families, however, will not be part of these financial aid program, according to Nograles. (Genalyn Kabiling)