At the age of 86, Lola Angelita Manalo tries to live independently. Not minding her physical limitations brought by her age, she still goes from house to house to deliver products and hopefully sell them for a living.

Lola Angelita, a resident of Brgy. 8 in Talisay, Batangas Province, has seven children who have families of their own now.

Knowing how hard it is to raise a family, she understands that her children cannot anymore provide her support. Hence, she tries her best to not become a burden to them.

Lolo Felix Encarnacion, 79, a resident of Brgy. San Guillermo in the same town, feels the same thing.

With eight children who have their own families now, he tries his best to live independently.

“Kahit matanda na ako, tuloy pa rin ang pagtatanim ko para may mapagkunan ng pagkain at maibenta na rin para may panggastos ako,” Lolo Felix shared.

Getting a hand

Though both of them chose to not be a burden to their children and their families, they’re both glad when they became beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens program.

The Social Pension provides a monthly PhP500 grant to indigent senior citizens based on the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010. Qualified beneficiaries are those age 65 years old and above, are frail, sickly or with disability, and are not receiving any pension and have no permanent source of income or regular support from relatives.

Lola Angelita and Lolo Felix both became beneficiaries of the said program in 2014. They are among the 60,938 senior citizens who are beneficiaries of this program in the CALABARZON Region.

“Malaking tulong sa akin ang natatanggap ko mula sa programa dahil dito ko na kinukuha ang pambili ng aking gamot. Pagkagaling sa payout, laging bumibili ako ng bigas at gamot,” shared Lola Angelita happily.

For the two of them, even if they receive only PhP500 pension and they get it in a quarterly basis, they can never be more thankful as this is already a big blessing for seniors like them who now have physical limitations, especially when it comes to earning money.

Feeling cared for

Lola Angelita does not mind not getting any support from her children. According to her, she feels satisfied as a mother that they have all grown up as good children and able to raise good families.

However, this support from the government makes her teary eyed from time to time because according to her, this program gives her a feeling of being cared for.

“Kahit matanda na kami, iniintindi pa rin kami ng gobyerno. Isang napakalaking biyaya ito sa amin,” she shared.

Lolo Felix, on the other hand, shares how he appreciates this program.

“Pinapahalagahan ko ang programang ito dahil pakiramdam ko, pinapahalagan rin kami ng gobyerno,” he said.

Lola Angelita and Lolo Felix, who are both presidents of their barangay’s association of senior citizens, are glad not only because of the help of the program to them. For the two of them, it is seeing how this pension makes a difference in the lives of their fellow senior citizens in their community that make them more thankful to this blessing.#