Pilot testing door-to-door delivery of social pension in ten remote towns in East Visayas

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
April 3, 2013

TACLOBAN CITY – Starting the first quarter of this year, the Department of Social Welfare and Development is piloting the door-to-door delivery of social pension for indigent senior citizens of ten remote municipalities of the region, using the services of the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHILPOST).

The pilot-testing for three months will be undertaken for timely delivery of the cash grants, and efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the door-to-door delivery, DSWD Region 8 Director Remia Tapispisan informed.

A total of 1,180 senior citizens from Limasawa in Southern Leyte province, San Jose de Buan, Almagro, and Tagapul-an of Samar, Jipapad in Eastern Samar, and Silvino Lobos, Lapining, Gamay, San Vicente, and Capul of Northern Samar, will receive the quarterly stipend of P1,500.00, right in their own homes.

It was learned that the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement was conducted recently between the DSWD Field Office 8 and the Philippine Postal Corporation for the three-month mode delivery of pension.
The DSWD is the lead agency in the implementation of the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizen to augment the daily subsistence and other medical needs of Filipino indigent senior citizens.

On the other hand, PHILPOST has a facility that can service the regionwide distribution of cash grants to Social Pension beneficiaries who are indigent senior citizens with disability, bedridden, and residing in far flung areas as priority target beneficiaries for the door-to-door delivery.

When the Social Pension Program started in 2011, the DSWD Field Office Eight conducted the distribution at the municipal plaza, and in other areas, the agency transferred the funds to the local government units for the latter to handle the giving out of cash grants.

This time, there will be three modes of cash distribution: through the transfer of funds to the Local Government Units, PHILPOST Door-to-Door payout and the Special Disbursing Officers (SDOs) who will go to the municipalities to give out the stipend of the Social pensioners.

According to Rose Fe Valeriano, Social Welfare Officer II of the Social Pension Program, the ten identified municipalities for the door-to-door delivery of social pension are the most hard-to-reach areas by the SDOs.

She added that these Special Disbursing Officers will take over the disbursing of funds to several municipalities as there are identified LGUs with bad track records in liquidating funds. The SDOs will also take charge in visiting and personally handing out the pension of the bedridden social pension beneficiaries.
“Sometimes it took 1 to 2 months for the beneficiary to receive the stipend. It takes that long because in every province there is only one SDO that disburses the pension except for Leyte which has two SDOs.

The DSWD hopes that with the new mode of payment, the implementation of the Social Pension Program, will be improved and fast tracked.