Bills On Indigent Senior Citizens’ Pension, Birth Certificates Lapse Into Law

A bill passed by the previous Congress seeking to double the monthly pension of indigent senior citizens has lapsed into law.

Republic Act (RA) No. 11916 or An Act Increasing the Social Pension of Indigent Senior Citizens lapsed into law on July 30, based on a letter sent by Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez to the Senate.

Also reported to have lapsed into law was a measure that seeks to make permanent the validity of birth, death and marriage certificates.

RA 11909 or the Permanent Validity of the Certificates of Live Births, Death and Marriage Act lapsed into law on July 28.

RA 11901 or the Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development Financing Enhancement Act of 2022 also lapsed into law on July 29.

RA 11916 amended RA 7432 or “An Act to maximize the contribution of senior citizens to nation-building, grant benefits and special privileges and for other purposes.”

The new law raises the monthly pension of poor senior citizens to P1,000 from P500.

The cash aid will be distributed by the National Commission on Senior Citizens instead of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Deputy Speaker Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto said the Marcos administration should include in the proposed national budget for 2023 the P25 billion allocation needed for the P1,000 increase in pension of senior citizens.

“If the bill increasing the monthly P500 pension to P1,000 has lapsed into law, it means that the budgetary requirement will double to P50 billion,” Recto pointed out.

He said the amount only covers senior citizens presently enrolled in the program.

“It does not include persons who turned 60 this year and those who are 60 and above but for one reason or another have been left out of the list,” Recto said.

He added at least P60 billion is needed to enroll all qualified beneficiaries in the program.

Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes of Senior Citizens party-list, who chairs the House committee on senior citizens, thanked Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva and former Senate president Vicente Sotto III for helping them have the measure approved by both houses of Congress.

Villanueva welcomed the enactment of the law increasing the monthly pension of about four million indigent senior citizens. Villanueva sponsored RA 11916 in the 18th Congress.

Sen. Grace Poe, principal author of the measure, said senior citizens would receive more benefits after a decade of the passage of Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act.

“Our countrymen can hope that the Senate will help take care of and pay attention to the sector that need help and support,” Sen. Sonny Angara said. “Congratulations to our colleagues, especially to Senator Joel Villanueva for sponsoring the measure.”

According to the Official Gazette, a bill may become a law if the President does not sign the measure within 30 days from receipt. The Office of the Press Secretary has not released copies of the new laws. – With Delon Porcalla, Cecille Suerte Felipe