Zialcita pushes fast enactment of Cosca

Parañaque City Rep. Eduardo Zialcita yesterday sought the urgent enactment of Comprehensive Senior Citizens Act of 2009 (Cosca) to alleviate poverty and improve the well-being of more than 20,000 senior citizens in Parañaque City and the total 4.6 million elderly throughout the country.

“Cosca is an act that will strengthen the grant of benefits and privileges to senior citizens, not only in Parañaque City but also all over the country in noblest efforts by its framers to help provide adequate social services to alleviate poverty, social security and safeguard the well-being of every Filipino elderly,” the Parañaque solon said.

The Bills and Index Unit of the Philippine Senate reported, so far, that Cosca-2009 was already passed at first reading last October 13 by Senate’s social justice, welfare and rural development committee headed by Sen. Pia Cayetano and two other committees, namely, Senate committees on ways and means and finance.

Zialcita, one of principal authors, said the enactment of Cosca has long been overdue that even lengthily deprived senior citizens of its high-impact benefits that are of urgent necessity by its beneficiaries at these most trying times.

Zialcita said top salient benefits that every senior citizen will enjoy from Cosca-2009 once enacted into law are:

Grant of 20 percent discount and exemption from the value added tax on the sale of goods and services from all establishments of the following: Purchase of medicines and other essential medical supplies; professional fees of attending physician/s in all private hospitals, medical facilities, out-patient clinics and homecare services; medical and dental services, diagnostic and laboratory fees, including medical supplies in all private hospitals and medical facilities, out-patient clinics and homecare services, in accordance with the rules and regulations to be issued by the Department of Health in coordination with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth);

Actual fare for land transportation travel in public utility buses, public utility jeepneys, taxis, Asian Utility Vehicles, shuttle services and public railways, including light rail transit, mass rail transit, Philippine National Railways and any skyway transport for the exclusive use or enjoyment of senior citizens;

Actual transportation fare for domestic transport of passengers by air or sea vessels based on the actual fare, including promotional fare, advanced booking, and other similar discounted fare;

Admission fees charged by theaters, cinema houses and concert halls, circuses, carnivals and other similar places of culture, leisure and amusement, and

funeral and burial services for death of senior citizens.

Zialcita said Cosca will definitely unburden economically, especially those in dire poverty in Parañaque City and the 4.6 million poor elderly all throughout the country.

So far, as of year 2000, Parañaque City has a total of 21,046 senior citizens and with a general population of 552,660 based on a survey conducted by Household Statistics Department of the National Census and Statistics Office.

Parañaque City , Zialcita added, is in National Capital Region that ranks 3rd region in the country with the highest senior citizen population of 468,876 out of its general population of 9,932,560. –Pat C. Santos, Daily Tribune