Members of the Palawan Provincial Board have expressed concern over the nine-month delay in the release of funds to senior citizens under the Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens (SPISC) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Board Member Ryan Maminta said Tuesday there might be factors affecting the timely distribution of the social benefits but these should be explained to the recipients.
“More or less nine months, well of course, meron mga situations na nag-contribute tulad ng election. Nagkaroon ng election ban, the delay of the budget from the national level and then ‘yong cleansing ng database nila. Pero this should be explained to the public, primarily to senior citizens,” he said after his privilege speech.
Maminta said elderly beneficiaries have asked him for help to know why there has been no release for several months now.
He said he will invite representatives of the DSWD to the next session to know the status of the program and the number of benificiaries.
“Then in comparison with the different programs of LGUs, magkaroon tayo ng sharing of data para iyong hindi makuha ng national government na mga pensioner from senior could be absorbed by municipal and provincial level ng social pension program para doon sa listahan, iyong nabigyan ng national government, hindi na mabigyan ng local government,” he said.
Maminta said there is also a provision in the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law where indigent senior citizens would receive P200 and he would like to know the update in the distribution.
