DAVAO CITY (PIA) -- The National Commission on Senior Citizens (NCSC) has called on senior citizens in the country to be vigilant against fake news circulating on social media platforms concerning the social pensions for senior citizens.

“We are appealing to all senior citizens to be calm and be cautious doon sa mga naglaganap na mga fake news na mayroong Senior Citizen Commission na nagbibigay ng isang libo sa inyong lahat all across, fake news yun (about the fake news spreading, saying that there is Senior Citizen Commission giving P1,000 to all of you, that's fake news) ,” NCSC-Cluster 8 Project Development Officer Maria Victoria N. Arancon said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Davao on Monday, October 2.

He clarified that the proposed monthly pension increase from P500 to P1,000 has not been implemented. He pointed out that Republic Act No. 11916, the law that facilitates this increase, will take effect after the budget is already submitted to Congress.

He emphasized that the Office of Senior Citizen Affairs (OSCA) is under the supervision of the local government units (LGU), not the NCSC or Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

“It is not true that the OSCA will be transferred to the NCSC from the DSWD as alleged in the post because the law that created the NCSC, Republic Act No. 11350, did not contain any provision transferring the OSCA under the supervision of the NSCS," he explained.

hindi official statement ng NCSC (We ask that if the information does not come from the official website of NCSC; it is not an official statement of NCSC),” he said. 

The National Commission on Senior Citizens was created under Republic Act  11350 or the National Commission of Senior Citizens Act, signed by former President Rodrigo Duterte in 2019, andis mandated “to establish and maintain cooperation and consultations with local government units and national government agencies on all matters pertaining to the general welfare of senior citizens, formulate policies for the promotion and protection of the rights and well-being of senior citizens, and ensure the full implementation of laws, policies, and programs of the government pertaining to senior citizens.”

Meanwhile, in observance of the weeklong celebration of Elderly Filipino Week, the NCSC still conducts the online registration of all senior citizens in the country to establish a senior citizen information system.

She added that in areas with Internet connection issues, they are distributing registration forms for the senior citizens to fill out before encoding them into the agency's online registration system.

The NCSC advised all senior citizens, with the assistance of their family members, to visit their official website https://www.ncsc.gov.ph/ to register. (ASO/PIA Davao)