Several videos posted on YouTube claim that senior citizens with a senior identification card are supposedly entitled to receive a P12,000 monthly financial aid under the Universal Social Pension program beginning Sept. 30. This is false.
The Universal Social Pension, which aims to provide P1,000 to P1,500 monthly financial assistance to seniors, has not yet been passed into law as of Oct. 23.
On Oct. 14, a YouTube channel published an 8-minute video claiming that the pension rollout for senior citizens under the program started last Sept. 30. It has a thumbnail that bears the photo of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and a text that reads:
“BASTA MAY ID MAY ₱12K ALL 60 YEARS OLD PATAAS UNIVERSAL SOCIAL PENSION“
(AS LONG AS YOU HAVE AN ID, YOU GET ₱12K — FOR ALL 60 YEARS OLD AND ABOVE UNDER THE UNIVERSAL SOCIAL PENSION)
The title of the clickbait video states:
“ALL 60 YEARS OLD! LAHAT NG MAY SENIORS ID, AUTOMATIC MAY ₱12,000 UNIVERSAL SOCIAL PENSION“
(ALL 60 YEARS OLD! EVERYONE WITH A SENIOR CITIZEN ID AUTOMATICALLY GETS ₱12,000 UNDER THE UNIVERSAL SOCIAL PENSION)
At least three other YouTube channels posted videos with almost identical elements in the thumbnail and a similar video title. One video claimed that the pension will be distributed to the elderly before the election, without specifying which polling exercise.
As of Oct. 23, the bill creating a Universal Social Pension Program remains pending at the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, based on the chamber’s official website.
The bill seeks to provide monthly assistance to all senior citizens, regardless of their economic status. Under the proposal, indigent seniors will receive a P1,500 monthly stipend, while non-indigent seniors will get P1,000, which will be increased to P1,500 five years after the bill’s enactment.
In a Facebook post and a press release on Oct.14, the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) debunked the circulating YouTube videos.
“Mariing pinabulaanan ng Komisyon ang awtomatikong P12,000 pension sa lahat ng mga 60 edad pataas at may senior citizens ID. HINDI ITO TOTOO at pawang “clickbaiting” lamang ang content dahil hindi pa pinal at aprubado ang nasabing pensyon
(The Commission strongly refuted the automatic P12,000 pension for all those 60 years of age and above and with senior citizens ID. THIS IS NOT TRUE and the content is just “clickbaiting” because the said pension has not yet been finalized and approved),” the agency said.
The NCSC added that the videos were manipulated using artificial intelligence as it clarified that lawmakers are still deliberating on the bill. It also urged the public, especially senior citizens, to get information only from its official social media pages and other legitimate government sources.
Posted by YouTube channel PH Pension News (created Aug. 7, 2025), the false video has so far garnered 11,000 views, 241 comments, and 475 likes. The three other videos have collectively earned 28,600 views, 1,043 likes and 433 comments.
