In the light of some news circulating in social media, that Social Pension will now ne enjoyed by all senior citizens the DSWD announces that the guidelines for the identification of potential social pensioners remain the same.
Regional Director Marie Angela Gopalan of the DSWD reiterated that the program will benefit only senior citizens, aged 60 years old and above, who are frail, sickly or with disability, no pension from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS), Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), Armed Forces and Police Mutual Benefit Association, Inc. (AFPMBAI) or any other insurance company, no permanent source of income, and no regular support from family or relatives for his/her basic needs.
In other words, the coverage is not universal or true to all senior citizens, as Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act solely provides special attention to indigent senior citizens to help them augment their daily subsistence and other medical needs of beneficiaries.
She added that only those in the DSWD’s validated list of social pensioners, certified by the Local Social Welfare and Development Offices, are considered the rightful beneficiaries.#