P66.2M cash benefit for centenarians unfunded under 2023 proposed budget — Tulfo

The P66.2 million budget for the cash benefit of 662 Filipino centenarians is unfunded under the proposed 2023 national budget, Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Erwin Tulfo said Tuesday.

During the House appropriations panel hearing on the proposed P194 billion budget of DSWD for 2023, Tulfo said the Department of Budget and Management did not grant their request for funding for the Centenarians Act which provides P100,000 cash to Filipinos who reached 100 years old and above.

Other unfunded items under DSWD include the P25 billion budget for implementation of the P500 social pension hike for indigent senior citizens as well as P2.5 billion for supplementary feeding program for hot meals of P1.7 million children and milk for 157,968 children.

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, author of the Filipino Centenarians law, urged DSWD to take immediate action since the beneficiaries are already in the twilight of their lives.

"Why are they waitlisted? They should not be waitlisted because by the time the benefits they are looking for are available, they may not be here with us anymore," he said.

"You should not wait for the enactment of the 2023 budget in order to fund the required P66.2 million. You should check with a contingent fund," he added.

Under the proposed P5.2 trillion budget for 2023, the contingent fund is valued at P13 billion.

It covers the funding requirements of new or urgent activities or projects of national government agencies, local government units and government owned and controlled corporations that need to be implemented or paid during the year.

Tulfo agreed with Lagman that funding the Centenarians law, as well as the hike in social pension, are urgent as he appealed to Congress to allocate funds for it.

"When I came in two months ago, a grandmother aged 103 years old came to my office to get the benefit. Mabuti nga buhay pa si Lola, naibigay namin agad iyong P100,000 at baka hindi na niya mabalikan," Tulfo said.

"We submitted a request to the DBM which they did not grant. They are informed that there are 662 Filipino centenarians waiting. Kaya iyong social pension saka iyong sa centenarians, sana po mapondohan [ninyo] kasi baka hindi na nila abutin. Kaya sana maibigay po natin ito at mapagbigyan ninyo, Madam Chair," he added.

Aside from unfunded programs concerning the elderly and children, Tulfo also appealed to Congress to increase DSWD's budget for Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations which was only at P19 billion or P20 billion lower than the DSWD's request.

Likewise, Tulfo called for support for additional funding so that DSWD can increase the number of its regular workers which are only at 3,000 out of 16,000 staff.

"We are really the first agency to see the picture when the smoke cleared after the pandemic. We really saw how our people have been," he added.—AOL, GMA News