Cordillera Administrative Region- The Department of Social Welfare and Development – Field Office Cordillera Administrative Region (DSWD FO CAR) assures the public that the implementation of the Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens is fair, objective, and strictly anchored on the existing laws and national guidelines, amid concerns raised regarding pension inclusion and delisting.  

“We are continuously conducting validation activities to ensure that the Program reaches the rightful and qualified beneficiaries all throughout the region. These actions are carried out in close coordination with the Local Government Units (LGUs), Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) and Local Social Welfare and Development Offices (LSWDOs)” DSWD FO CAR Regional Director Maria A. Catbaga – Aplaten, PhD shared.

Regional Director Aplaten also clarified that concerns on being delisted and not included in the Program often comes from misunderstandings regarding eligibility requirements.

“There were expressed concerns over the process of inclusion to the Program and delisting, however, only those who no longer meet the eligibility criteria are excluded from the Program,” emphasized by RD Aplaten.

In accordance with DSWD Memorandum Circular No. 06, series of 2025, and Republic Act No. 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, the eligibility requirements for the Social Pension Program include:

• Indigent Senior Citizen that must be 60 years old and above;
• Frail, sickly, or with disability; and
• Without pension from SSS, GSIS, PVAO, or have a regular source of income, compensation, or financial assistance from the relatives to support his/her basic needs

An Indigent Senior Citizen refers to an elderly individual who is frail, sickly, or with disability and has no pension or permanent source of income or adequate financial support to meet basic needs.

As part of the validation and eligibility process, DSWD FO CAR technical staff, together with OSCA and LSWDO personnel, conduct on the ground verification of senior citizens. This includes the checking of National Identification Card details and validating addresses reflected on OSCA IDs to confirm current residency and ensure easier coordination with the client beneficiaries.

Qualified applicants are then encoded in the offline Social Pension Information System (SPIS) and submitted to the DSWD Central Office – Program Management Bureau for data cleansing and eligibility processing. Data cross matching is being conducted with the Social Security System (SSS) to confirm that beneficiaries are not receiving other forms of pension. Generated clean and error free lists are returned to the Regional Offices. The validation is currently being done nationwide.

Upon Validation, beneficiaries may be delisted from the Program due to the following reasons:

• Death of Beneficiary;
• Have a pension from SSS, GSIS, PVAO, Survivor pension and other pension;
• Have regular source of income / support from the family and relatives and has an own business;
• Regular Honoraria received from agencies or institutions (Barangay Officials);
• Inability to locate the beneficiaries; and 
• Failure to claim the pension for two consecutive pay out periods.

Director Aplaten further emphasized that the Social Pension Program has no bias and that all processes are conducted fairly and equally, anchored on the law and established guidelines. 

“We reiterated that there is no subjective removal of client beneficiaries, as all actions are based on the existing guidelines meant to ensure that government assistance reaches those who need it most”, Director Aplaten said.

On the other hand, distribution of Social Pension grant will now be conducted through Fund Transfer under said modality by the Local Government Unit who will lead in the distribution of the stipend and other contact details, while DSWD continues to oversee monitoring, validation, and maintenance of clean beneficiary lists to uphold transparency and accountability.

For further clarifications and inquiries, you may contact Elleonore Elmo, Social Pension grievance officer at enelmo@dswd.gov.ph., or reach DSWD FO CAR at Facebook DSWD Cordillera Region at https://www.facebook.com/dswdcordilleraregion, or via email at focar@dswd.gov.ph and telephone number at (074) 661 0430 #DSWD FIELD OFFICE CAR, SOCIAL MARKETING UNIT, HAZEL ANN BUY-O.