ZAMBOANGA CITY—The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) has begun releasing the social pension of the region’s senior citizens.
Ivan Eric Salvador, DSWD-9 information officer, said on Wednesday that a total of 195,943 senior citizens in the region are set to receive P3,000 each under the social pension program of the department.
Salvador said the cash payout falls under the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, which aims to provide financial assistance to the elderly amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
He said they have already released the social pension to 400 beneficiaries in Zamboanga Sibugay and 600 in Zamboanga del Norte.
Salvador said the release of the cash aid continues through the assistance of the different local government units.
He said the number of beneficiaries in the region is as follows: Zamboanga del Norte, 68,149; Zamboanga del Sur, 64,808; Zamboanga Sibugay, 36,949; Zamboanga City, 21,837; and Isabela City, 4,200.
Meanwhile, Salvador disclosed that the release of the second wave of the P5,000 aid under the social amelioration program would soon start.
The distribution, he said, would be done after the liquidation of the first wave.
“The other indigent individuals who failed to receive [the aid] in the first wave, but are qualified, would now be included as beneficiaries,” he said. PNA
Image credits: The Zamboanga City Hall PIO