Pangilinan, Lagman in ‘word war’ over vetoed Centenarian Act

From left, the four centenarians Juliana Gurango,102, Felipa Kabigting,102, Luz Kahn, 100 and Sr. Candida Asuncion. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan hit back at a lawmaker, whom he accused of flip-flopping after President Benigno Aquino III vetoed the  proposed Centenarian  Act.

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman blamed “bill grabber” Pangilinan for the “killer” provision of the measure, which provides  for  a 75 percent discount on goods and services for the centenarians—higher than the 50 percent  proposal of the House of Representatives. Lagman and Pangilinan were both authors of the bill.

“It’s on record that Lagman agreed to the proposals and it was he who requested that I file a counterpart bill in the Senate. Now with this veto, he flip-flops, does a 180-degree turn and resorts to name calling and finger pointing,” Pangilinan said in a text message on  Wednesday.

“What a shame. I expected better from a seasoned legislator. His actuations are saddening and pitiful,” he added.

President Aquino vetoed the measure for being “excessive (and) unreasonable” and for being “patently oppressive.”

He said the 75-percent discount would not be tax deductible for business owners and this “exceeds the usual mark-up rate of most businesses and will obliterate profit margins and result in capital loss.”

The vetoed bill also called for a cash gift of P100,000 to all Filipinos who have reached the age of 100 years or more.

But Pangilinan, an administration ally, disagreed with the veto, saying that  the proposed discounts in the measure are “negligible” considering that there are only some 5,000 centenarians  in the country.

“With all due respect, I disagree with the executive  branch,” the senator said. “There are some 5,000 centenarians in the country with a population of nearly 100 million. Too few to make a serious impact on the sectors affected thus the discounts in my view are negligible while the effect on the weak, feeble and the aged needing government care would be considerable.”

“I don’t think  it was asking too much to provide them with such benefits considering their delicate physical and mental condition,”  Pangilinan added.