Sen. JV Ejercito has filed a bill to double the monthly social pension for indigent senior citizens from ₱1,000 to ₱2,000, citing higher prices of food, medicines, utilities, transportation, and health care.
Senate Bill No. 2522 would amend Republic Act No. 11916, the law that sets the current ₱1,000 monthly rate. Ejercito filed the measure in September, and news outlets reported on it on October 4.
“With the continuing rise in the prices of food, medicines, utilities, transportation, and health care, ₱1,000 a month is simply no longer sufficient to significantly support the daily needs of an elderly Filipino,” Ejercito said.
RA 11916 doubled the monthly pension from ₱500 to ₱1,000. The last increase took effect in July 2022, when that bill lapsed into law.
Ejercito cited the Philippine Statistics Authority’s 2024 Census of Population in saying that about one in every 10 Filipinos is a senior citizen. He said the government must ensure that the social protection system keeps pace with the changing needs of the elderly.
According to the senator, the modest pension many retirees receive is quickly consumed by maintenance medicines, medical consultations, food, rent, electricity, transportation, and other necessities.
Under the bill, an indigent senior citizen would include Filipinos aged 60 and above who have no pension or permanent source of income, as well as those who receive a pension, compensation, or financial assistance of no more than ₱10,000 a month. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) would determine who qualifies.
The measure would also remove the existing requirement that an indigent senior citizen be “frail, sickly or with disability” to receive the pension.
The bill would require the DSWD, subject to approval by the Department of Budget and Management and in consultation with relevant stakeholders, to review the pension every two years and adjust it when necessary. Adjustments would take into account the consumer price index, the poverty threshold, the cost of living, and other economic indicators reported by government agencies.
“Seniors should not be forced to choose between buying medicine and buying food. Their lifetime of work and sacrifices should not end in anxiety over whether there will be enough money for the next meal or the next prescription,” Ejercito said in the bill’s explanatory note, GMA News reported.
“Social pension is not charity. Ultimately, this measure is about how we value those who came before us. Our senior citizens should be able to spend the remaining years of their lives with dignity, not in constant worry about their next meal, their medicines, or their most basic needs,” Ejercito said.
The House counterpart measures have been filed but remain pending at the committee level.
