Speaker Martin Romualdez on Tuesday pushed for higher weekly discounts on groceries and food supplements for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs), saying the P65 weekly cap was “no longer appropriate.”
“Seniors and PWDs are currently getting a far too modest discount of P65 on their weekly groceries. We need to increase this,” Romualdez said.
He said the House of Representatives will convene a technical working group this week to review the Senior Citizens Act to determine how much additional discounts should be provided for seniors and PWDs.
Romualdez said at present, seniors receive a five percent discount each week on groceries, capped at a total purchase value of P1,500, which translates to a measly discount of P65 per week.
“This amount is no longer appropriate in the current economic climate, given the high cost of living,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Commission of Senior Citizens has proposed the creation of a centralized database system in place of the senior citizen’s purchase slip booklet for claiming discounts.
In a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing, NCSC chairperson Franklin Quijano said the booklets rarely serve their purpose, as some senior citizens often forget to bring them when making purchases, preventing them from receiving discounts.
Quijano said instead of the physical booklets, a centralized database should be established to digitally record transactions regarding the senior citizens’ availment of not just medicines, but also basic necessities and prime commodities.
He said this would entail data-sharing between merchants and the government.
United Senior Citizen party-list Rep. Milagros Magsaysay supported the Speaker’s proposal, saying it was not only feasible but can also be easily implemented.
“Increasing the value of the grocery budget for seniors or PWDs to, say, P5,000 a week, would mean the mandated five percent discount would equate to P250,” she said.
Romualdez said the discount should not be limited to groceries but also extended to food supplements and vitamins for the elderly and PWDs.
“Many of our seniors and PWDs need to regularly purchase supplements or vitamins to maintain their health and strengthen their resistance to diseases, so it’s only fitting to include these in the discounted items as well,” he said.
Romualdez is the principal author of the law expanding the benefits for seniors and PWDs.
He earlier called for a motu proprio investigation into instances where senior citizens and PWDs were denied discounts and benefits due them under the law.
“Laws granting benefits to our senior citizens and PWDs should be strictly followed and implemented. And if there are several instances of the improper grant of these privileges and benefits, it becomes a common practice. So it cannot remain unchecked,” he said.
“This is what we hope to achieve in this investigation, to clarify the law and correct all their misconceptions and wrong implementation,” Romualdez added.
On the booklet system, Quijano said: “The substitute for the recording system is the mandate of the President that all [government] transactions should be digitalized and that means all the offices of government should work together, so that we will be able to set up a centralized database system.”
He also cited the impacts of paper on the environment as another reason to avoid using purchase slip booklets.
“If there are 12 million senior citizens, can you imagine how many trees will be cut? Paper comes from wood. So that is a practical reason to replace the booklets,” he said.
Quijano, however, stressed the need for Congress to amend Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 to replace the booklets with a digitalized database.
“I hope that our Congress will also help us prepare, of course, we have studies this and we foresee that with the help of DICT, centralized database will really address the issue,” he said.
Meanwhile, Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian has directed the agency’s Program Management Bureau (PMB) to make a study and recommendation regarding the senior citizen purchase slip booklet.
DSWD-PMB’s position paper dated Feb. 1 recommended to Gatchalian the abolition of the purchase slip booklet, as a requirement for the purchase of medicines by senior citizens.
The bureau recommended the adoption of digitized records for the senior citizens, “considering the mobility and tendency to forget to bring their booklets and even read their content, it is no longer convenient on the part of senior citizens to use purchase slip booklets.”
“With the fast-paced technology and innovations, it is recommended to adopt an established system for monitoring, storing, and reporting data towards an efficient, consistent, and uniform implementation of the law and provisions for the availment of medicines, basic necessities, and prime commodities, among others,” the PMB said in its position paper.