Quezon City – Senior citizens group Confederation of Older Persons Association of the Philippines (COPAP) and non-government organization Coalition of Services of the Elderly (COSE) say that the additional P200 a month unconditional cash support is insufficient and only helps 3 million of 8 million senior citizens affected by the TRAIN law.
The senior citizens, unlike the young and employed, would not be able to benefit much from the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, and most likely to feel the effect of higher excise tax and price rates.
The Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) program will be adding P200 tax reform subsidy in the first year, then P300 in the second and third year to the current P500 social pension for indigent senior citizens, but is very low and implementable only for three years.
“Dati nang kulang ang P500 social pension para masuportahan ang mga mahirap na nakatatanda, at ang P200 na karagdagang subsidiya ay hindi pa rin sasapat para maproteksyunan kami sa pagtaas ng mga presyo ng bilihin dulot ng TRAIN, (P500 social pension has been inadequate to support poor older person; the P200 additional cash support is not enough to protect us from higher prices of commodities caused by TRAIN law), laments COPAP President Dioscoro Benalla, who himself a beneficiary of the social pension program.
There has been no change in the benefit level of the social pension since the identification of the P500 social pension in Republic Act 9994 in 2010. According to COSE’s feasibility study, the real value and purchasing power of the pension has decreased to Php403 in 2010 prices, even before TRAIN has taken effect.
Universal Social Pension can cover all senior citizens excluded in Social Pension and UCT program
The said social pension and UCT program exclude five million senior citizens who have low retirement to no pension at all.
“The increase in prices of commodities does not only affect poor older persons but also those with low retirement pensions from Social Security System (SSS) and those who do not have any pension at all,” explains Emily Beridico, COSE Executive Director.
There are already bills filed in the Congress amending the social pension program. House Bill 5038 or Universal Social Pension Bill, filed by Ako Bicol Partylist Representative Rodel Batocabe and co-authored by 14 representatives including House Majority Floor Leader Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, proposes to expand the social pension to all senior citizens without pension.
As strongly claimed by the two groups, given the revenue from the TRAIN, the government can afford more than just the P200 subsidy given to poor senior citizens. The cost of universal social pension would just be equal to the P32 billion budget for pension hike of 200,000 retired Military Uniformed Personnel (MUP) in 2019 that the Committee on Appropriations, chaired by Representative Karlo Nograles, has assured to beneficiaries.
“We call on the House Committee on Appropriations to give equal rights to millions of senior citizens who in one way or another have contributed to nation-building, and not only to a few public servants,” appealed by Benalla.
COSE and COPAP urge the government to pass the Universal Social Pension bill, which has undergone public hearings and technical group meeting under the House Committee on Populations and Family Relations, and recently, forwarded to Committee on Appropriations for action.
