THE National Commission for Senior Citizen (NCSC) yesterday said it supports proposals to do away with the senior citizen’s purchase booklet, which it noted has sometimes prevented the elderly from availing of discounts due them.
Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo and ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo are pushing for the abolition of the purchase booklet following complaints from many senior citizens about the inconvenience of its use.
NCSC chairman Franklin Quijano, during an interview with the “Bagong Pilipinas” program over state television PTV4, said some elders tend to forget to bring their purchase booklets when they leave their homes for errands.
Under Republic Act 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act, and its implementing rules and regulations (IRR), the presentation of a purchase booklet when making certain purchases is required by merchants because it serves as a record of the medicines and grocery supplies that an elder buys.
Without the booklet, Quijano said the elderlies cannot avail of the 20 percent discount due them.
Aside from making it easier for the seniors to get discounted rates, Quijano said doing away with the booklets would also help the environment as it would mean less cutting of trees to be used as paper.
He said there are more than 12 million senior citizens registered nationwide, “can you imagine how many trees will be cut?”
“Personally, gustung-gusto ko because halos ano na, hindi na nagsi-serve ng purpose ang booklet. At saka minsan, hindi nai-enjoy ni senior citizen dahil naiiwanan sa bahay ang booklet at hindi napi-present (Personally, I want the booklet removed because it no longer serves its purpose. Sometimes, the senior citizens do not even enjoy the discount because they left their booklet at home and are unable to present it),” he said.
Quijano said apart from amending the law, a database should likewise be created to monitor, track, and record the purchases of the elderly.
He also said that raising the limit of purchases using the booklet should be considered by lawmakers, pointing out that the P1,300 per month purchase limit was still based on the prices of commodities in 2010 and is no longer sufficient due to the high cost of medicines and commodities.
He noted that the past, the P1,300 per month limit allowed an elder to purchase a sack of rice and use the rest of the amount for other food items. This, he said, is no longer true today.
Meanwhile, the Pasig City government yesterday said it will construct additional health centers to cater to the health needs of its constituents, especially senior citizens.
During Monday’s flag-raising ceremony, Mayor Vico Sotto said priority for the project are barangays that currently do not have health centers.
“We want to have (medical) personnel available to accommodate patients based on the population of the city. That’s why we also need to increase (health) personnel, as well as health centers,” Sotto said.
The mayor also said the city government is also planning on building two community emergency rooms in Barangays Sumilang and Manggahan to serve residents in need of emergency health care. — With Christian Oineza
