Senator Christopher “Bong” Go made an emotional appeal in a Senate hearing, demanding the immediate release of social pension funds for approximately 1 million indigent senior citizens who remain on the waitlist despite being legally entitled to the benefit.

Speaking before the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, Go called it a “moral duty” to support the most vulnerable and declared it painful to see elderly Filipinos forced to work to survive.

Go specifically focused on the implementation of Republic Act 11916, a law he co-authored that increased the monthly social pension for indigent seniors from P500 to P1,000.

“I will continue to call on all government agencies, even here in the Senate, in Congress. Let us work together — every peso, every cent is important to our senior citizens,” Go said.

He shared a personal story from the previous day about a 68-year-old vendor selling turon to support her family. “At that age, the grandmother should no longer be selling. She should be receiving something from the government for medicine, for transportation,” he said. “It pains my chest to see that she still needs to work just to support her family.”

The senator urged the committee, chaired by Senator Erwin Tulfo — the former Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary — to prioritize providing the social pension to all qualified seniors.

Go reinforced his position in a weekend Facebook post, where he also criticized systemic corruption in public funds, singling out flood control projects as a source of misuse. He lamented that while indigent seniors await their legal benefits, public resources are being diverted by “unscrupulous actors.”