PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan—More than 3,000 indigent senior citizens received their monthly pensions from the Palawan government’s local social pension (LSP) this year for the months of January to July.
Dubbed the “Kalinga para kay Lolo at Lola” (KPLL) program, the social pension received by the beneficiaries amounted to over P4 million, said Helen Bundal, population program officer of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).
“These indigent elderly citizens are those who do not receive pensions from the national government,” she said in an interview on Monday. Each pensioner received P1,750 for seven months.
Aside from the LSP, the elderly are also provided with financial aid and medical services, Bundal added.
“The distribution of their local social pension is under Resolution 11305 approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in 2014. Since then, the provincial government has been strengthening its support to them,” she said.
The measure aims to provide a monthly pension of P250 to all indigent senior citizens in Palawan who are 60 years old and older.
Before they are placed as beneficiaries, Bundal said they undergo the evaluation carried out by the PSWDO, the Office for Senior Citizen Affairs and the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office of the municipality where they reside.
The KPLL is in line with the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 that requires local governments to give monthly pensions to indigent senior citizens to help them pay for food and medicine.
Bundal said the PSWDO is currently preparing the fund for the second semester of the year.