Philippine database for elderly falsely portrayed as 'pension sign up portal'
- Published on August 26, 2024 at 05:50
- 3 min read
- By Lucille SODIPE, AFP Philippines
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"All Senior Citizen pensioner or nonpensioner will receive 1k per month or 3k every 3months under the NCSC," reads part of a Facebook post shared on August 19, 2024.
The post appeared to cite a Philippine law -- Republic Act 11350 -- and added that senior citizen affairs are now being handled by the National Commission on Senior Citizens (NCSC) and not the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
"Register online www.ncsc.gov.ph. The 1k monthly pension will take effect upon completion of senior citizen registration."
"Please forward this and tell your relatives, acquaintances and friends who are senior citizens," read the final Tagalog-language line of the post.
Similar claims were shared elsewhere on Facebook here, here, here and here on pages that bore the names of several Philippine local governments.
Comments on the posts suggest some users had been misled.
"Thank you for this information, sir, maam," one commented.
Another asked, "I've been registered for a while, where should I go to collect the pension?"
But the database and the monthly social pension available to some senior citizens are unrelated.
Assess 'needs of the elderly'
The NCSC issued an alert about the spread of the misinformation on its official website on August 16, linking to an earlier debunk of the claim it published in February (archived links here and here).
The commission also posted a separate alert on its official Facebook page on August 19.
"The registration aims to update the government registry, assess the needs of the elderly and design programs and services for senior citizens," the Tagalog-language post read.
The law mentioned in the false posts -- Republic Act 11350 -- in fact refers to the creation of the NCSC in 2019 (archived link).
The law concerning the distribution of the social pensions is the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 (archived link).
It provides a monthly social pension for "qualified indigent senior citizens" or "any elderly who is frail, sickly or with disability, and without pension or permanent source of income, compensation or financial assistance from his/her relatives to support his/her basic needs" (archived link).
The pension was increased to 1,000 pesos from 500 pesos in 2022 (archived link).
While oversight of the scheme will be transferred to the NCSC, it is currently being handled by the DSWD.
"It is hoped the social pension for seniors will be transferred to our office by 2026," Hanipa Benito of the NCSC's Social Pension and Benefits Division told AFP on August 22.
The Philippines does not provide a universal pension to senior citizens.
A bill is pending in Congress, as of August 26, 2024 (archived links here and here).
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