At least 330,000 indigent senior citizens in the Calabarzon Region received a total of PHP4 billion in social pensions in 2024 under the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens program.

Joseph Constantine Arceo, DSWD regional public information officer, said the social pension has increased from PHP500 to PHP1,000 as mandated by Republic Act 11916.

Calabarzon covers the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon.

Qualified beneficiaries are elderly citizens who are frail, sickly, have minimal or no support from family members, and do not receive pensions from the Government Service Insurance System, Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, Social Security System and other insurance providers.

“Our office facilitated the payouts, while some funds were transferred to local government units (LGUs), with DSWD personnel present during distribution,” Arceo said in a phone interview on Friday.

Also on Thursday, the DSWD awarded PHP300,000 in capital assistance to 28 members of the Bucaowin Sustainable Livelihood Program Association in Bucao, Polillo, Quezon, for their fish-buy-and-sell business.

“This investment aims to help association members, in partnership with the LGU, start and expand alternative income sources,” Arceo said. (PNA)