More than P20 million in social pension from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) was not given to indigent seniors for three semesters in Caloocan City in 2023, the Commission on Audit (CoA) found.

Impoverished senior citizens are entitled to a P500 monthly stipend under Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizen Act.

The distribution of the social pension is made every six months and may be delivered through the transfer of funds to local government units (LGUs) in accordance with DSWD Memorandum Circular 17-2022.

The audit showed that Caloocan City received a total of P209,736,000 from the DSWD last year, covering the second semester of 2022 (P66.2 million) and the first (P53.9 million) and second (P83.8 million) semesters of 2023.

However, state auditors found that of the total, the LGU only dispensed P189.3 million to qualified senior citizens, while P20,463,000 remained undistributed to 1,780 seniors for the second semester of 2022 (P9.3 million), and 1,956 (P5.9 million) and 1,060 (P5.3 million) for the first and second semesters of 2023, respectively.

The CoA said that the non-distribution of the social pension to the indigent seniors caused the return of the funds to the DSWD, "hindering the immediate utilization of the pension to augment the daily subsistence needs and medical expenses of the beneficiaries."

According to the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA), the deficiencies in the dole-out of Caloocan City's pension were due to the non-appearance of the seniors during the payout for reasons such as the pensioners being deceased, changing residence, or merely failing to claim their pension at the designated schedule.

Inquiries revealed that the LGU sought the assistance of some barangays to inform seniors of the schedule and venue of the payout, but the information was disseminated through their social media accounts.

"This method of information dissemination may not be enough to reach out to all eligible senior citizens, which led to their inability to claim their SPISC (Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizen) benefits at the specified distribution schedules," the auditing body said.

Nevertheless, the OSCA assured that seniors who failed to receive their pension may still claim it once the DSWD validates and assesses their current status as qualified recipients.

The Caloocan local government also informed auditors that the OSCA is continuously coordinating with various offices and senior citizens' associations to bolster information dissemination concerning the payout of pensions.