Camarines Sur (CamSur) governor and former congressman LRay Villafuerte is looking forward to the seamless transfer of the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) from the Office of the President (OP) to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), hoping this streamlining move would entail the continued “hassle-free” implementation of social protection programs for an estimated 11 million elderly Filipinos.
“It is our hope that the transfer would entail a seamless transition, ensuring the continued implementation of programs for our elderly Filipinos, especially the hassle-free grant of the monthly socpen or SPISC (Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens) of P1,000 to our over 4 million indigent seniors,” Villafuerte said.
Among the laws that Villafuerte authored or co-authored during his three-term stint as CamSur representative were those that doubled the monthly socpen or allowance of indigent seniors from P500 to P1,000, and expanded the cash gift program of P100,000 each for the aged when they turn 100 by granting an incentive of P10,000 each for senior citizens when they reach 80, 85, 90 and 95.
President Marcos issued Executive Order (EO) No. 96 last September that placed the NCSC directly under the DSWD from the OP for better policy and program coordination for the benefit of senior citizens who, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), totaled 9.22 million or 8.5% of the country’s household population as of 2020.
Villafuerte said EO 96 authorized the DSWD to continue leading the management and distribution, in coordination with the NCSC, of the SPISC.
However, current estimates have placed the number of seniors at a higher 11 million, of whom 8,736,887 had registered with the NCSC website as of end-September 2025, said Villafuerte, who is the president of the National Unity Party (NUP) and senior vice president for South Luzon of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP).
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reported last year that it released P49.807 billion for the annual SPISC budget of over 4 million indigent seniors.
Republic Act (RA) No. 11350, or the National Commission of Senior Citizens Act” of 2019, created the NCSC, while RA 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act” of 2022, transferred the implementation of the SPISC program from the DSWD to the NCSC—it was then attached to the OP—over a three-year period.
The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) has reported that the transfer was based on RA 12231, or the “Government Optimization Act” of 2025, which empowered the President to transfer or integrate functions from one government agency to another for streamlining purposes.
Villafuerte was a lead author of RA 11916, or “An Act Increasing the Social Pension of Indigent Senior Citizens,” which doubled the monthly socpen to P1,000, as well as RA 11982 or the “Act granting Benefits to Filipino Octogenarians and Nonagenarians,” which amended RA 10868, or the “Centenarians Act” of 2016, by granting a P10,000 cash gift each to senior citizens when they reach 80, 85, 90 and 95 years of age.
RA 10868 provided for a P100,000 gift each for seniors when they reach 100 years of age. Villafuerte also co-authored RA 12231.
He explained that EO 96 authorized the DSWD to continue leading the management and distribution, in coordination with the NCSC, of the SPISC, which is given to Filipinos 60 years of age who are ill or living with a disability, and who have no regular income, pension or family support.
