Photo: DSWD 7
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — To fast-track the distribution of financial assistance to social pension beneficiaries, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) issued Memorandum Circular No. 17, introducing three delivery schemes.
This includes cash advances of special disbursing officers (SDOs) of the agency, door-to-door delivery for beneficiaries in critical condition, and the transfer of funds (TOF) to local government units (LGUs).
It was anticipated that these new schemes would mobilize the department’s logistics and workforce.
Among the schemes, the TOF will enable fast and convenient distribution of stipends, considering the limitations on administrative costs and the workforce of DSWD field offices.
However, DSWD will consult with the LGUs for their preference for DSWD to continue the payouts or adapt the scheme, considering the beneficiaries’ prevailing status, physical conditions, and geographical situation.
As a result, the DSWD in Central Visayas started a series of consultation dialogues with different stakeholders, including mayors, local social welfare and development officers, city/municipal accounts, and officers of senior citizen affairs, to orient them on the importance of fund transfer.
On February 20–21 and 22–23, 2024, the consultation dialogue for the Social Pension program began in the south and north areas of Cebu province, respectively. DSWD 7 will conduct the same activity in Bohol, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor provinces.
In 2023, some 80 LGUs were already using the fund transfer scheme: 30 in Cebu, 26 in Bohol, 19 in Negros Oriental, and 5 in Siquijor.
An additional 42 LGUs have adopted the fund transfer for 2024. Starting in January, these additional LGUs will begin the distribution of the increased monthly stipend at their respective localities.
In 2023, approximately 299,737 impoverished senior citizens were enrolled in the social pension program, receiving a monthly stipend of P500.
However, with the implementation of Republic Act 11916, the program provides a 100% increase in the monthly stipend beginning in the first quarter of 2024. Each will now receive P1,000 or P12,000 annually.
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