The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office XI, through the Social Pension for Indigent Citizens Program, recently conducted a week-long conference dubbed as “Stakeholders Conference cum Social Pension and UCT Re-orientation” last January 19-29, 2022.

The conference was participated by partner stakeholders from the local government units in Davao Region and some representatives from the Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA).

It aims not only to provide guidance to its partners on the program’s new directives particularly on Memorandum Circular No. 16, Series of 2021, but also to share the accomplishments and gather challenges encountered to better improve the implementation this year.

One of the highlights of the conference focused on the discussion of the quarterly payouts for the grants. Thus, strengthened coordination among partners is necessary for a smooth implementation of payout activities that are compliant to the required minimum health protocols.

On behalf of the Department, OIC-Regional Director Ronald Ryan R. Cui expressed his gratitude for the continued support of partner implementers and beneficiaries to the program in line with the Department’s mandate to serve the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized individuals.

Maria Victoria N. Arancon, Social Pension head, also asked for the cooperation of partner implementers in encouraging more beneficiaries to claim grants through their authorized representatives in this time of the pandemic.

Social Pension is a monthly stipend amounting to five hundred pesos (P500.00) that aims to augment the daily subsistence and other medical needs of indigent senior citizens. ###