Outgoing Albay Second District Representative Joey Salceda is urging the Senate to approve the proposed Universal Social Pension for Senior Citizens Act or the House Bill 10423 and pledged to find funding for it.
The bill seeks to grant indigent senior citizens a monthly pension of 1,000 pesos and non-indigents 500 pesos. Within five years, all elderly Filipinos would receive 1,000 pesos.
“Now, I myself am telling the Senate that we can fund the Universal Social Pension,” Salceda said.
The lawmaker, who also heads the House of Representatives’ Joint Committee on Senior Citizens and Persons with Disability Benefits, said he spoke with Senator Imee Marcos, chair of the Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, to push for the bill's passage.
“I assured her we can sustain universal social pension fiscally. The Senate committee can still pass it during the break. I'll take care of finding the funds. She assured me she will study it carefully,” said Salceda.
He also cited government estimates showing the incremental costs of the program would be P28.8 billion in the first year, covering 2.4 million new recipients; P43.7 billion in the second year, covering 3.64 million additional recipients; and P68.9 billion in the third year, covering 5.74 million new beneficiaries.
“I proposed to Sen. Marcos the following schemes to make it fiscally sustainable: On the first year, we will make it universal for all 70 years old and above. On the second year, it will cover those at 65 years old. On the third year, it will benefit those at least 60 years old,” Salceda said.
“All social pensioners already enrolled in the program will keep their benefits. We will index the increase to the cost of living, so it catches up with inflation,” he added.
The projected senior citizen population in 2024 is 16.39 million, with 3.7 million currently receiving social pensions.
Salceda said the program can be funded by cutting 10 percent from the cash aid budget and increasing taxes on vape products and mining operations, among others.
He added that the social pension is not a government handout but something seniors have earned through their accumulated contributions to the economy.
“We have a moral obligation to our senior citizens. This is not cash aid. This is something they already earned by having contributed to the economy all their lives. This is their right. Our pension system is inadequate,” Salceda said.