Go calls for seniors’ social pension boost

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go has called on the national government to reallocate a portion of its flood control budget to settle the long-unpaid social pensions of qualified, waitlisted indigent senior citizens across the country.

Go made the suggestion Monday amid recent discoveries of numerous anomalous, substandard and “ghost” flood control projects that he said profited a few rather than benefiting the population.

The senator underscored that thousands of elderly Filipinos, who are already qualified under the law he co-authored, remain on a waitlist and have yet to receive their monthly pension. He warned that persistent delays signify a government failure to uphold its duty to the country’s most vulnerable.

“So many seniors are approaching me, asking why they have not yet received their social pension,” Go said. “Although this is already the law, what is [the hesitation over] a thousand pesos or an additional total of P8 to P12 billion to give what is due to them.”

Go, who co-authored the law that increased the social pension of indigent seniors (Republic Act 11916), stressed that government resources should be prioritized for programs that directly uplift the poor and elderly.

“Instead of the funds being wasted, used as a milking cow by a few in flood control, perhaps it can be reallocated here to the social pension,” he stressed. “They are already elderly; they can at least use it to buy food and medicine.”

The senator urged concerned agencies, particularly the Department of Social Welfare and Development, to clearly explain the situation to affected seniors and to find ways to release the necessary funds, noting that most qualified indigent seniors have been waitlisted for years due to a lack of funding to expand the number of beneficiaries.

“That’s why this should be explained to them because everywhere I go, people really approach me saying, ‘Why have we not yet received our social pension?’” he pointed out.

Go also called for faster and more efficient delivery of public social services.

“Let’s not make things difficult for our countrymen. First and foremost, that is the people’s money; it should be returned to them quickly in a way that is in accordance with the law,” he added.