Press Release
September 19, 2020

Dispatch from Crame No. 914:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima's reaction on depriving 91,000 Senior Citizens of their Social Pension

9/19/20

It pains me to learn that the DBM slashed ₱816.065 million from the budget of DSWD's Social Pension (SocPen) program thereby depriving 91,000 indigent senior citizens, under the DSWD's "wait-listed" beneficiaries, of their monthly pension assistance. Sa gitna ng pandemya at krisis, tila ba napakadali sa gobyernong Duterte na iwanan sa ere ang nasasantabi na nga, gaya ng mga senior citizens.

How dare you, Mr. Duterte, continue to turn a blind eye to the helpless and hapless situation of our senior citizens? Habang patuloy na tinatabas ang mga serbisyo para sa mga bulnerableng sektor, heto naman ang mga pet agencies ni Ginoong Duterte na patuloy ang paglobo ng budget, na ang iba naman ay nauuwi sa kupit, hindi sa COVID-19.

Surely, a portion of Duterte's billions of confidential and intelligence funds or any other of his discretionary funds can be spared for our poor seniors citizens. Kung may tunay na malasakit, magagawan ito ng paraan. Maawa naman kayo!

In the words of Pope Francis, the elderly are a treasure of our society. Hindi matatawaran ang ambag nila sa ating lipunan. Kaya sana naman ay alagaan at hindi pabayaan sila, lalo na ngayong panahon ng pandemya. Wag lang "seen" nyo - kundi seryosohin nyo - ang mga seniors.

#FundSeniorsPension #AllLivesMatter

Access the handwritten version here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_no._914

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