SEN. Imme Marcos late Tuesday night said there are no funds earmarked in the 2025 proposed national budget for the P1,000 monthly social pension of around “waitlisted” 622,000 indigent senior citizens.
Marcos, during her defense of the budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for next year, made the revelation after Sen. Loren Legarda inquired on the status of social pensions for indigent senior citizens as mandated under the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2022.
Marcos admitted that under the proposed 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), there is no funding for the social pension of the waitlisted seniors.
In 2023, about 490,000 senior citizens who were supposed to receive their pension were waitlisted and did not get what was due them due to the lack of funds. The number has ballooned to 622,000, and Marcos said this might further increase to 800,000 if those who would turn 65 years-old next year would be included.
Marcos said that giving all poor senior citizens their social funds is not likely to happen next year.
“Wala pa ring pondo doon sa waitlisted. Itong P49.8 billion na nasa NEP (National Expenditure Program) na dinagdagan ng konti, P49.81 billion, eh kukulangin pa rin sa totoo lang (There are still no funds for the waitlisted seniors. This P49.8 billion in the NEP was increased a little to P49.81 billion, but in reality, these are not enough),” she said.
Marcos said the 622,000 individuals were not included in this year’s list as they have just qualified as senior citizens.
But she assured senior citizens who have been getting the social pension will continue to get them.
“Yung mga bagong seniors, doon talaga wala tayong pambayad. Pero kung dati nang nasa listahan, baka nade-delay lang or nagkakatagalan lang pero dapat mabayaran sila (We really do not have budget for the new senior citizens. But those who have been receiving cash assistance, will still be receiving them but maybe there will be some sort of delay),” Marcos said.
Senators ended plenary deliberations on the proposed 2025 national budget at 4 a.m. yesterday. The period of amendments is scheduled at 3 p.m. on Monday.
