Poe takes up cudgels for seniors on benefits, discounts

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA—By law they should be enjoying their privileges, but in reality they are shabbily treated by many establishments.

Sen. Grace Poe is seeking an inquiry into the growing number of complaints by senior citizens that they are being denied privileges due them under the law by some commercial establishments.

Poe has filed a Senate resolution asking the committees on justice and social justice to look into the different interpretations of Republic Act Nos. 7432 and 9994 that deny senior citizens their rightful discounts and benefits.

The hearings, she said, would aim to craft uniform guidelines for the effective implementation of the two laws.

RA 7432, the Senior Citizens Act, grants benefits and privileges to Filipinos aged 60 and over, while RA 9994 is its expanded version.

Poe said the objective of the two laws was to help improve the well-being of the elderly, and to recognize the role of the private sector in this.

There had been reports that fast food and other restaurants and hotels were denying the elderly their law-mandated discounts, benefits and privileges on “unjustified conditions,’’ Poe said.

For instance, she said, while the law grants a 20-percent discount, a popular restaurant gives a flat discount of P100 for home delivery for a minimum P2,500 bill.

A senior claimed a 20-percent discount at a hotel, which the manager rejected, saying he had already availed himself of a promo, Poe  said.

In a mall supermarket, the cashier offered a flat P65 discount instead of the 5-percent discount on prime commodities, she recounted.

Seniors are also rebuffed if they fail to present their official IDs, even though they have other IDs showing their birth date or age, Poe added.

“Pursuant to the stated constitutional precepts and the spirit and objectives of RA Nos. 7432 and 9994, the State is behooved to ensure that the same are truly being implemented as such are not only the State’s legacy but its mandate to value, respect, dignify and look out for our senior citizens who have toiled to be where we are now as Filipinos and as a nation,’’ Poe said in Resolution No. 1042.

There are an estimated 6.8-million senior citizens in the country.

On top of these two laws, President Aquino has signed Republic Act No. 10645, or the Mandatory PhilHealth Coverage for All Senior Citizens, which entitles all seniors to PhilHealth benefits on their medical expenses.

This is expected to benefit at least 2.16-million senior citizens without PhilHealth coverage. Until its passage, a senior citizen had to prove he was indigent before he could avail himself of PhilHealth benefits.