MANILA, (PIA) -- Senior Citizens Partylist Representative Rodolfo "Ompong" Ordanes has announced the approval of the P1,000 additional social pension fund for 4 million indigent senior citizens in the country.

This is also based on the confirmation made earlier by Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian, who said that the additional P25.6 billion needed to double the pension amount will be drawn from the department's "unprogrammed funds."

The partylist solon welcomed the development and said that their efforts to ensure that the additional pension was funded have been realized.

For now, Ordanes said that Gatchalian is just waiting for the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) to come from the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC).

According to Ordanes' information, the NCSC, led by Chairman Franklin Quijano, started drafting the IRR in August.

"The only thing that is really needed is the IRR from the NCSC so that the indigent senior citizens can receive their additional pension that they have been waiting for a long time," said Ordanes, who came out as Top 10 in performance rating among partylist representatives based on RP-Mission and Development (RPMD) survey. (PIA-NCR)