From P1K TO P2K: JV eyes doubling seniors’ monthly social pension

Senator JV Ejercito has proposed doubling the current P1,000 monthly social pension for indigent senior citizens to P2,000 to help elders cover maintenance medications and save a little for basic needs like food.

The last increase in the social pension for seniors was in July 2022, after the bill that doubled the initial P500 stipend lapsed into law as Republic Act 11916.

Senate Bill 2522, filed by Ejercito in September, seeks to amend the law by increasing the amount twofold amid the escalating costs of food, electricity, transportation, and healthcare.

“For many retirees, a modest monthly pension is quickly consumed by maintenance medicines, medical consultations, food, rent, electricity, transportation, and other necessities. The small statutory pension they receive every month is far from the financial security we envisioned for our seniors,” the bill reads.

Lawmakers from the House of Representatives filed counterpart measures, but they remained pending at the committee level.

A 2024 census by the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that roughly one in every ten persons is a senior citizen.

Given this figure, Ejercito said the government must ensure the social protection system keeps pace with the changing needs of the elderly, particularly those who are financially challenged.

“Our senior citizens have spent the productive part of their lives working, raising families, building communities, and contributing to our nation. Many of them cared for us when we were young and still finding our way through life. In their later years, it is only right that society, in turn, ensures that they are able to live with dignity and security,” he said.

The Senate bill defines an indigent senior citizen would be expanded to include elderly Filipinos who have no pension or permanent source of income, as well as those who receive a pension, compensation, or financial assistance not exceeding P10,000 per month, subject to determination by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The bill would also remove the existing requirement that an indigent senior citizen be “frail, sickly, or with disability” to qualify for the social pension.

It likewise mandates the DSWD, subject to the approval of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and in consultation with relevant stakeholders, to review and, when necessary, adjust the social pension every two years.

The proposed adjustments would consider the consumer price index, poverty threshold, cost of living, and other relevant economic indicators reported by government agencies.

“Social pension is not charity. Ultimately, this measure is about how we value those who came before us. Our senior citizens should be able to spend the remaining years of their lives with dignity, not in constant worry about their next meal, their medicines, or their most basic needs,” Ejercito said.