The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reiterated on Friday (February 7) that all the pending payments for the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens (SPISC) program had been completed by the concerned DSWD regional field offices as of December 31, 2024.
“We have been continually addressing these issues. For the record, all the pending payments for social pension to eligible beneficiaries had been completed as of December 31, 2024,” Undersecretary Adonis Sulit of the DSWD’s Policy and Planning Group (PPG) said.
According to Undersecretary Sulit, the delay in the payment of social pension in the DSWD Field Offices in Mimaropa, Bicol (Region 5), Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9), and Davao Region (Region 11) has been sufficiently explained by the Management response on the observations made by the Commission on Audit (COA).
Under the rules during the time of audit, the payment for the beneficiaries of the SPISC program should be done within the semester covering the period. The new rules provide for monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly payments.
Undersecretary Sulit said the delay in the social pension payout was caused by the lack of sufficient number of Special Disbursing Officers (SDOs) who do the manual payout for beneficiaries administered by the DSWD.
“There was also a delay on the part of local government units (LGUs) in the liquidation of prior fund transfer for those indigent seniors who were paid through the transfer of funds to LGUs,” Undersecretary Sulit said.
Undersecretary Sulit said the COA’s audit observation memorandum (AOM) on the DSWD’s social pension program has been addressed and explained during the COA exit conference attended by agency officials.
The DSWD official issued the statement following media reports that state auditors flagged the delayed release of P6.16 billion in stipends under the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens program, noting significant delays that left thousands of elderly Filipinos without timely financial support in violation of the agency’s own 2019 memorandum circular.
“When the media reports the annual audit report, some, unfortunately, failed to include the management response that the COA findings had been addressed and corrected,” Undersecretary Sulit said.#
