Various senior citizens organizations in the country are planning to hold rallies starting next month to press the Senate to act on the proposed Universal Pension Program that will grant all elderly Filipinos a P500 monthly allowance.

“Mag-rally kami sa November 11… wala ng time,” said United Senior Citizens Partylist Rep. Mila Aquino-Magsaysay in a text sent to Senior Times recently.

Aquino-Magsaysay was referring to the action senior citizens will undertake to convince the Senate to act on the Universal Pension Program bill currently pending before the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development.

Chaired by Senator Imee Marcos, the Senate panel has yet to act on the pending UPP measure that the Lower House passed on third and final reading last May.

A lone bill filed in the Senate contains almost similar provisions as the House version. It was filed in 2022 by Sen. Risa Hontiveros but remained untouched by the Sen. Marcos’ committee.

Aquino-Magsaysay appealed to senators to discuss the measure, saying that the may no longer sufficient time to act on it.

She pointed out that approval of the bill faces time constraints resulting from the forthcoming election period.

“We're on recess up to nov 3. Pasok namin Nov 4. Malapit na ang eleksyon,” the partylist solon said.

The UPP proposes the grant of PHP 500 monthly financial assistance to all senior citizens regardless of their social status.

On May 21, the Lower House registered 232 affirmative and 0 negative votes for the final reading of House bill 10423 that will expand the social pension program to include elderly Filipinos who are not considered indigent.

”The passage of the Universal Social Pension Bill is not just for those who have walked before us, but for the generations whose journeys have only begun," Aguino-Magsaysay said. "It ensures that no Filipino senior citizen today or tomorrow will ever be left behind or forgotten. It is about time that all Filipinos have a pension."

Currently, government is implementing the Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens which grants a PHP 1,000 monthly stipend to impoverished elderly Filipinos.