Macalintal lauds signing of law creating National Commission of Senior Citizens

Atty. Romulo Macalintal. Photo by Christia Ramos / INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — No country has ever extended to their senior citizens (SCs) the kind of benefits our elderly enjoy in our country.

Atty. Romulo Macalintal, an advocate of senior citizens and ran in the 2019 senatorial elections pushing for the welfare of the elders, said this Monday following the signing of the law that would create the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC).

READ: Duterte signs law creating National Commission of Senior Citizens

Macalintal said President Rodrigo Duterte’s signing of the law is a “giant step towards more efficient and dynamic services for the elderly.”

The lawyer said that in the United States, benefits for SCs vary depending on the state of residence, adding that the benefits are extended only to those who retired with Social Security contributions.

“Others are given welfare benefits under the welfare care of the states. But surely, no such 20 percent discount and 12 percent VAT (value-added tax) exemption has ever been observed in other countries which means that it is only in our country where our SCs are indeed taken care of by the government as mandated by our constitution that the ‘State shall design programs for the social security of the elderly’,” Macalintal said in a statement.

Under the law

The lawyer explained that one of the provisions of the law is the transfer of functions of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for senior citizens to the NCSC.

“With this new development, the NCSC can give full concentration to all the problems, programs and projects for SCs since these are the reasons for its very creation especially the poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged SCs who have to be given more attention by the government because of their very sad predicament in life,” Macalintal said in a statement.

“Now, the SCs can expect a more dynamic and forceful agency that can directly address their needs and problems which said agency could bring before the administration as representative of the SCs,” he added.

Macalintal noted, however, that there are provisions in the existing law for SCs that need to be amended to achieve the purpose for which they were enacted.

“For instance, the law provides that SCs are entitled to 5% discount on their electric and water bills. However, this benefit is rendered naught by the qualification that the power consumption does not exceed 100-kilowatt hours and the water usage does not exceed 30 cubic meters which means that if an SC exceeds such threshold, the discount is no longer applicable,” Macalintal explained.

“This needs urgent amendment to the effect that the SC shall be entitled to the 5% discount to the first 100 kwh and the first 30 cubic meters,” he added.

Macalintal further called for malls and shopping centers that do not acknowledge the supposed discount for SCs to be looked at.

The lawyer added that movies can also be made free for SCs, saying that movie theatres are usually not full and that it would not hurt owners financially since elders are usually accompanied by non-seniors who would pay for the movie.