A partylist representative on Sunday assured indigent senior citizens in the country that lawmakers are seeing eye-to-eye on the necessity of funding the legislated increase in the indigent seniors' social pension in the P5.268-trillion General Appropriations Act for 2023.

Senior Citizens Partylist Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes said that he is optimistic that Congress will find ways to fund Republic Act 11916 or the law that increases the social pension of poor senior citizens from the current P500 to P1,000 since lawmakers are well aware of the said law and its urgency.

The lawmaker said that indigent elders only need to let the budget process run its course as it has in the House and is ongoing now in the Senate.

"There is no uncertainty in RA 11916 happening in 2023 because the detailed behind-the-scenes work continues," said Ordanes, who also chairs the House special committee on senior citizen affairs.

For him, the best timing would be during the bicameral conference on the 2023 proposed budget.

RA 11916 was adopted by the House of Representatives a day after the Senate passed it on 30 May of this year. It lapsed into law on 30 July.

During budget hearings, the Department of Social Welfare and Development said that P25,768,665,000 is required to implement a P500 increase in seniors' social pension pursuant to RA 11916 for 4.085 million impoverished seniors in 2023.