WE COMMEND the House of Representatives for coming up with proposed bills expanding the benefits for senior citizens.
We already have the Comprehensive Senior Citizens Benefit Act that gives senior citizens or those 60 years old and above an array of benefits in recognition of their health and medical needs in their advanced age.
Recently, three committees of the House of Representatives – Ways and Means, Senior Citizens, and Disability Affairs – went a step further and recommended for plenary approval several bills expanding the coverage of senior citizens’ benefits and privileges.
The first is a measure institutionalizing the removal of the requirement of the booklet for availing senior discounts. Another is the recommendation for a P2,000-tollway discount for senior citizens who use expressways.
Still another benefit contemplated by lawmakers is applying the senior discount on Transportation Network Vehicle Service units such as Grab and Angkas.
There’s also the bill increasing the water and power utility discount from five percent to 15 percent, and on those consuming 200kWh rather than just 100kWh.
Other lawmakers have proposed that online sales should also be subject to the 20-percent senior discount, so businesses will also be able to use the cost of VAT discounts as a deduction from gross income.
The proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Senior Citizen’s Benefit Act are the product of months of consultations with senior citizens’ associations. These consultations are a form of grassroots democracy that our lawmakers should always bear in mind whenever they want to come up with legislation that responds to the actual needs of various sectors.
As of March 2024, the number of senior citizens in the Philippines was estimated to be around 4.4 million. This is based on the number of senior citizens who had registered with the National Commission of Senior Citizens.
On the other hand, the number of disabled Filipinos stands at 1.57 percent of the total population of 114 million, or 179,000 disabled Filipinos.
Congress is on the right track in giving senior citizens and the disabled more benefits.
After all, the 1987 Constitution provides that the State shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity of the nation and free the people from poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, a rising standard of living and an improved quality of life for all, including senior citizens and the disabled.