BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, April 10 — Local officials here are crafting a program that will provide social pension benefits for poor senior citizens in support of the Senior Citizens Law.

Mayor Flaviano Balgos said that the social pension will be part of their Municipal Poverty Reduction Plan (MPRP) which will benefit senior citizens of their municipality especially those classified within the poverty mark survey.

“We have already formed our Local Poverty Reduction Action Team (LPRAT) to look into this package of benefit and we hope to start its implementation next year,” Balgos said.

The LPRAT will be composed of the education sector, civil society organizations, local government officials, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and its municipal counterpart.

Proposals along this program include the provision of monthly or quarterly pension in order to augment their benefits under the Senior Citizens Law.

According to Balgos, the funds that will be used for the social pension for the elderlies will be sourced out from the P15 million cash incentive from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) which was given to the municipal government for its excellent performance on good governance, accountability, and transparency.

“This will be a convergence of efforts in order to sustain the assistance for our elderlies in our municipality. At least, with the funds that given to us, we can return back the amount for them in the form of needed assistance to improve and ensure their plight as treasured sectors of our community,” he said.