Understanding the expanded senior citizen act

‘Oldies’ have now more goodies

Lola Fely is a regular customer of a fast food chain where she buys a lauriat meal worth P109. As a senior citizen, she is supposed to get a P21.80 discount and pay only P87.20. But because of the 12-percent value-added tax (VAT), she pays P97.67 instead and gets P11.34 discount instead of P21.80. Effectively, Lola Fely only gets an 8-percent discount instead of 20 percent because of the VAT.

But with the passage of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 Republic Act (RA) 9994, Lola Fely and some five million Filipino senior citizens, defined any resident citizen of the Philippines at least 60 years old, can now enjoy the full 20 percent discount on their purchases of qualified goods and services. This means that the sale of qualified goods and services to senior citizens shall be considered VAT exempt, meaning no more pass on.

The senior citizens will still use their ID issued by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through the Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA). But this time the benefit coverage of the full 20-percent discount has been expanded:

purchase of medicines including the purchase of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines, and such other essential medical supplies, accessories and equipment to be determined by the Department of Health (DOH);
professional fees of attending physician/s in all private hospitals, medical facilities, outpatient clinics and home health care services;
professional fees of licensed professional health workers providing home health care services as endorsed by private hospitals or employed through home health care employment agencies;
medical and dental services, diagnostic and laboratory fees including medical supplies in all private hospitals and medical facilities, outpatient and home health care services;
booking in hotels and similar lodging establishments, restaurants and recreation centers; and
admission fees charged by theaters, cinema houses and concert halls, circuses, carnivals, and other similar places of culture, leisure and amusement.

actual fare for land transport travel in public utility buses and jeepneys, Asian utility vehicles shuttle services, public railways (LRT, MRT and PNR), and domestic air and sea transport;

Moreover, the senior citizens get the following benefits:

exemption from the payment of individual income taxes of senior citizens who are considered to be minimum wage earners;

grant of a minimum of five percent discount relative to the monthly utilization of water and electricity supplied by public utilities provided that the meter is under the name of the senior citizen and that the monthly consumption does not exceed 30 cubic meter of water and 100 kilowatt-hours of electricity, respectively;
exemption from training fees for socioeconomic programs;
free medical and dental services, diagnostic and laboratory fees such as, but not limited to, x-rays, computerized tomography scans and blood tests, in all government facilities, subject to the guidelines to be issued by the DOH in coordination with the PhilHealth;
free vaccination against the influenza virus and pneumococcal disease for indigent senior citizen patients;
establishment of senior citizens' ward in all government hospitals;

educational assistance (through scholarships, grants, financial aids, subsidies and other support books, learning materials, and uniform allowance) to qualified senior citizens to pursue post secondary, tertiary, post tertiary, vocational and technical education, as well as short-term courses for retooling in both public and private schools;
the continuing of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Social Security System (SSS) and the PAG-IBIG benefits at par with those in actual service; and
express or priority lanes for senior citizens in all commercial and government establishments.

Upon death, a senior citizen gets a 20-percent discount funeral and burial services. A death benefit assistance of a minimum of P2,000 (subject to inflationary adjustments) will be given to the nearest surviving relative of a deceased senior citizen.

In addition to the aforementioned benefits, indigent senior citizens shall be entitled to a monthly stipend of P500 to meet the daily needs, including medical and mandatory PhilHealth coverage.

RA 9994 is not just about monetary benefits; the law also provides self and social enhancement services, which provide senior citizens opportunities for socializing, organizing, creative expression and self-improvement; and after care and follow-up services for senior citizens who are discharged from the homes or institutions for the aged, especially those who have problems of reintegration with family and community.

Stiffer penalties have been imposed by the law both on the sellers of goods and services and senior citizens who will abuse the benefits granted. Any person who refuses to honor the senior citizen card the first time will be imprisoned up to six years and pay the fine of up to P100,000. For any subsequent violation, violators will be imprisoned for two to six years and pay the fine of up to P200,000. Likewise, senior citizens who abuse their privileges will be punished with imprisonment of not less than six months and a fine of up to P100,000.

RA 9994 expands the benefits and privileges of RAs 7432 and 8257. RA 7432 or An Act to Maximize the Contribution of Senior Citizens to Nation Building was passed in July 1991. It was amended in 2004 through RA 9257 or An Act Granting Additional Benefits and Privileges to Senior Citizens.

With the VAT-exempt senior citizen discount, the government stands to lose some P1.7 billion tax revenue, which can further aggravate the national government budget deficit. Last year, the deficit stood at P298.5 billion or 3.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). As of April this year, the national government deficit was at P131.6 billion. For the year, the deficit is expected to rise P362 billion or 4.3 percent of the GDP.

Photo: “Lolo and Lola - 1” by Dru Kelly, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved

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