The city government of Tacloban is now preparing for the release of social pension stipend to the first batch of 101 eligible social pensioners in the locality, but there are still more to be included, as 406 potential beneficiaries are still subject for validation.

This was revealed by City Social Welfare and Development Officer Liliosa Baltazar, who said that the list of verified potential pensioners, who are 77 – year old and above, will soon be submitted to the DSWD regional office for confirmation.

The DSWD Field Office Eight has earlier provided the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) with information from the Department’s central computer database of members of poor households who are 60 years old and above and their complete socio-economic background. The DSWD – National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) is a unified and standard criteria for the identification of the poorest families through scientific means in order to reduce the leakage or inclusion of the non-poor and under-coverage/exclusion of the poor in social protection services.

As pledge of support to the implementation of the social pension program, the city government represented by Mayor Alfred Romualdez and Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) Head Crisanta Co, forged a memorandum of agreement with the DSWD. The signing was held yesterday, June 14, at the Office of the City Mayor, in the presence of DSWD Regional Director Leticia Corillo, Assistant Regional Director Jaime Eclavea who is the Regional Social Pension Program Deputy Program Manager, CSWDO Baltazar, and Tacloban Federation of Senior Citizen Associations president Linda Butalid.

Corillo cited the Mayor who expresses his concern for the elderly populace, particularly the “unattached elderlies” whom he said, may be taken advantage upon by people around them or within their communities.

The three – month stipend for January to March of this year, amounting to Php 1,500.00, will be released on Thursday, June 24, in Tacloban City, for the benefit of indigent senior citizens who may be frail, sick, without pension from the government/ private insurance company, and support from their family/relatives.