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On Social Pension Fund for senior citizens: Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, during plenary deliberation on the proposed 2024 budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), inquires about the status of the social pension fund for indigent senior citizens, noting that the number of senior citizens has doubled. Villanueva on Thursday, November 16, 2023, said Republic Act (RA) 11916 or the Social Pension for Indigent Seniors Act, which he authored, doubled the monthly pension from the current P500 to P1,000 per senior indigent. The majority leader noted that the sponsor of the DSWD budget, Sen. Imee Marcos, reported that P3.082 billion was allocated for the pension of waitlisted senior citizens for this year. “May we know what is going to happen next year?” Villanueva asked, stressing that the wait-listed 228,000 senior citizens had ballooned to 466,000. Marcos said P25 billion was alloted for the social pension fund in 2023 but the fund has yet to be released. “Is there any indication that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) will release the funds?” Villanueva further asked. Marcos said she is asking the DBM to release the funds in full for the sake of senior citizens who needed them for food and medicines, among others. (Bibo NuevaEspaña/Senate PRIB)