(File photo)
MANILA – Senior citizens no longer need to make a physical appearance to claim their pension beginning March 1, Malacañang announced on Friday.
This developed after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved Thursday a resolution mandating pension-issuing agencies and their servicing banks and other financial institutions to adopt alternative modes of validation for senior citizen pensioners.
“The IATF considered the health and safety of senior citizen pensioners in approving this resolution and directed relevant government agencies to issue the corresponding memorandum circulars for its implementation by March 1, 2021,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, also acting as IATF-EID spokesperson, said in a statement.
Despite the threat posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), senior citizens are still mandated to make a personal appearance or submit documents that require a personal appearance before a notary public to have continuous access to their pensions.
Roque said the IATF-EID’s latest directive was meant to protect senior citizens who are considered vulnerable to Covid-19.
“Alam naman natin na tayo ngayon ay nasa gitna ng pandemiya at ang mga seniors ay isa sa high-risk at vulnerable sa Covid-19. Para matiyak ang kanilang kalusugan at kaligtasan, inaprubahan ng resolusyon na ito na hindi na sila kinakailangan na magkaroon ng personal appearance sa mga bangko at iba pang institutsyon para makuha lamang ang kanilang mga pensyon (Amid the pandemic, seniors belong to high-risk groups and are vulnerable to Covid-19. To ensure their safety, the resolution was approved so they would no longer be required to make a personal appearance in banks and financial institutions just to claim their pension),” he said.
Meanwhile, Roque said the IATF-EID also amended the omnibus guidelines on the implementation of nationwide community quarantine, specifically the provision on mass gatherings under general community quarantine.
He said the amendment was made to “reflect the businesses, industries, and activities that have been allowed by previous IATF resolutions.”
Roque said the IATF-EID also revised its earlier resolution, Resolution 98, by “delet[ing] the reckoning period of March 20, 2020,” in reference to the visas issued to foreign nationals allowed to enter the Philippines.
“The following shall be included [in and] added to the list of foreign nationals allowed to the Philippines: those with valid and existing visas at the time of entry and who were not permitted to enter the country under previous IATF resolutions, and holders of valid and existing special resident and retiree’s visas and Section 9A visas provided they present an entry exemption document to the Bureau of Immigration upon arrival,” he said. (PNA)
