SOME 6,000 Filipino elderly, led by the United Senior Citizens party-list, gathered outside the Senate in Pasay City on Monday to press for the passage of House Bill (HB) No. 10423 which seeks to grant universal social pension to all senior citizens.
"May oras pa kung gusto ng ating mga mahal na senador na ipasa ito kasi nagpasensya, nag-antay ang mga nakatatanda na kusang aprubahan ng mga senador. Pero it seems na matatapos na lang ang 19th Congress, hindi naman nila ginagalaw (There is still time if our dear senators want to pass it because the elders have been patient and waited for the senators to willingly approve it. But it seems that the 19th Congress will just end, without them touching it)," United Senior Citizens Party-list Rep. Milagros Magsaysay said in an ambush interview.
The bill’s author noted that the House of Representatives approved the measure on May 21, 2024 and was received by the Senate the following day.
"Eight months na po sa Senado (It is already eight months in the Senate)," Magsaysay lamented.
if passed into law, the measure will amend Republic Act 7432 or the Senior Citizens Act, which grants over four million “indigent senior citizens” a PHP1,000 monthly pension from the government.
HB 10423 shall provide around seven million senior citizens, who are not considered indigents, a monthly pension of PHP500.
With gradual increase of PHP100 in five years, all senior citizens will eventually be entitled to a universal social pension equivalent to at least PHP1,000, regardless of any other pension benefits they receive.
The bill also seeks the transfer of the management of universal pension for senior citizens from the Department of Social Welfare and Development to the National Commission of Senior Citizens within three years. (Wilnard Bacelonia)
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