The Philippine social

pension at four years A Summary

I. Background
n Stipulated under the RA 9994 or Expanded Senior Citizens
Act of 2010 .
n “Social pension” provides PhP 500 per month to senior 1
Any elderly who is: “frail, sickly
citizens identified as indigent.1 or with disability, and without
n Aimed at augmenting daily subsistence and medical needs. pension or permanent source of
income, compensation or financial
n 2011: coverage was limited to those aged 77 and over.
assistance from his/her relatives to
n 2015: coverage was expanded to 65 and over. support his/her basic needs”.

II. Issue V. Findings 60 %

severe
disability
1out of 4
have
Cardiovascular
disease
After four years of social pension n Respondents face high levels
implementation, our understanding
of its appropriateness and impact on
of vulnerability related to old
age and still look primarily to 30% Mild or
moderate
disability
1out of 5
have Chronic
social pension recipients, is limited. their families for economic respiratory
10% No Disability disease
support.
6 10
III. Solution
out of
co-reside with their children
and other relatives

A study was conducted by the

Coalition of Services of the
Elderly (COSE), HelpAge
International and the
n Social pension has a meaningful
impact on the income and
expenditure of recipients but this
Social
Pension
40% Cite food
as main
expenditure of
Social Pension
Demographic Research and impact is limited by the very low
Development Foundation (DRDF) benefit level.
29.5%
“ ”
to address this information gap. Followed And
…it is a huge help. Even if it’s only The social pension was by Medicine Househod Bills

IV. Methodology
500 pesos, it helps. When I was able
to receive my first pension, I was able
– on average – equal
to close to a third of
household income.
30% P 14%
to buy one-fourth kilo of pork. But
without the pension, I won’t be able The real value of the social pension benefit has depreciated.

415 17%
n Qualitative and quantitative to buy items like that.
methods were employed in —Lolo Marco (not real name)
PhP 500
(2010)
PhP
(2015)
Reduction in
the real value
of the benefit
three areas: (i) San Ildefonso, 83 years old, Quezon City pensioner
Bulacan; (ii) Quezon City and (iii)
Binangonan, Rizal.
n Major issues in the use of the National Household
n A survey was conducted covering
Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-
Key Issues:
a sample of 151 recipients and High degree of targeting errors.
PR) and the local-level validation process in the
150 non-recipients (targeted Highly subjective.
selection of beneficiaries were identified.
but not yet receiving pension) of
social pension. Lacking in systematic processes.
n Focus group discussions were
held for program implementers, n Gaps in the program implementation Social Percentage of Non-recipients who were
Pension unaware of the Social Pension scheme.
recipients and non-recipients include lack of awareness of the Scheme

independent of survey study.

n Key informant interview with a
program and the problems in the
delivery of benefits.
?
28% 57% 36%
Binangonan San Ildefonso Quezon City
gerontologist.
Travel to Social Pension pay points is costly for recipients.
PhP
95 PhP64
Binangonan San Ildefonso
PhP
63
Quezon City
VI. Recommendations
Design of the Scheme:
n Increase the benefit amount so that
it meets the basic needs of older
people, and index it to inflation.
Targetting Approach:
n Continue to use NHTS-PR but as
a reference point, rather than a
pre-requisite for eligibility
n Strengthen local validation by
providing clearer guidelines on
how to operationalize “indigent
senior citizens”.

NHTS-PR Indigent
REfer
PhP
500 ence
only

PhP
1,500 Accountability and Delivery:
A benefit of PhP 1,500 would provide a monthly
income above the food poverty line. n Increase awareness through implementing a comprehensive
communication plan targeting different audiences
n Redefine “Indigent” to cover a more
broader set of vulnerable older persons.

Proposed Amendment
(House Bill 5752): = Older People
“[frail, sickly or with
disability, and] Without
pension [or], permanent
www. @ = General Public
source of income, Manual
or compensation [or
financial assistance
from his/her relatives] to
= Implementers
support his/her basic
need”. n Strengthen mechanisms for n Process of documentation of
submitting grievances and eligibility and non-eligibility
complaints. should be publicized.

n Consider the feasibility of more universal

approaches to a social pension.

Proposed Option:
Complaint
form
? Announcement

Provide a benefit
to all older people
aged
60 and over.

At universal social pension of PhP1,500

Implemented by: In parnership with: Funded by
per month would lift 2.6 million Filipinos
out of poverty and would only cost
around 1% of GDP.2

Thailand Asean countries

Vietnam
Brunei } who already have
basic universal
pension in place.
Contact Information
Coalition of Services of the Elderly, Inc (COSE)
1407 Quezon Avenue, West Triangle, Quezon City 1104 Metro Manila, Philippines
2
Based on COSE-Helpage (2015), Feasibility of Tel: +63 2 709 6567/ +63 2 374 6416
Universal Social Pension (Preliminary Analysis) Website: www.cose.org.ph