Drugstores deprive PWD of discounts

BIG time drug companies led by Mercury Drug are depriving persons with disabilities (PWD) the 20-percent discount for their medicine purchase as mandated by law, a number of PWDs revealed Thursday.

Carmen Zubiaga, who is para-lyzed by polio, disclosed that Mercury Drug, South Star Drug and other members of the Drugstores Association of the Philippines are refusing to give discounts that is due to the PWDs pursuant to the Republic Act 9442, or the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities that mandates all drug stores and pharmacies to provide 20-percent discounts for every purchase of medicines similar to that of senior citizens.

Members of the media were provided of the Show Cause Order issued by the Food and Drug Administration to Mercury Drug branches in Cainta, Rizal and Wilson Street San Juan for the said drugstores’ noncompliance with the law.

Zubiaga revealed that defiant drug stores contend that giving discounts will put their business into bankruptcy and even resort to questioning the authenticity of the disabled persons’ identification cards which are either issued by the National Council on Disability Affairs or the local government unit.

“Even those people with visible disability are doubted, while they suspect people with non visible disability of abusing their PWD card. They don’t think of us. They only think of business,” Zubiaga said in Filipino during a press conference in spearheaded by Ak-bayan party-list.

She lamented that in addition to violating the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities, drug stores continue to defy Administrative Order (AO) 2009-0011, which mandates the full implementation of the abovementioned law even though it has been a year ago since the AO was issued by the Department of Health.

“It can’t be true that they will go bankrupt. These companies crafted the implementing rules and regulations of the law on discounts and have agreed to it. Why should they agree if they know that such measure will destroy their business?” she pointed out.

Such action of drugstores, according to Zubiaga, has a great effect to the day-to day existence of PWD including children with disabilities, including children, with AD/HD, autism, seizure disorder and other intellectual disabilities who rely on their daily maintenance to stabilize their condition as well as cancer survivors who consumes daily doses of medicines.

Father Robert Reyes added that there are even Mercury Drug branches who sell cigarettes and alcohol, which he described as an insult to the pharmaceutical business.

“Mercury Drug is greedy and deadly,” Reyes said.

Under the law, those behind the erring drug stores will have to pay at least P50,000 but not exceeding P200,000 or be imprisoned for six months to two years. Also, those PWDs who will abuse their privileges will have to pay P5,000 to P50,000.

Orthopedically handicapped Abner Manlapaz and Jun Bernardino, for their part, noted that the footbridges are also discriminating the disabled persons by design because the ramps for those in wheelchair, if there are such, are too steep.

Manlapaz said that they are forced to cross the street trying to evade the vehicles or use the U-Turn slots, which are not for humans but for vehicles

Zubiaga, however, underscored that their appeal is not a matter of pleading for mercy.

“This is not about mercy. We don’t need that. What we need is for them to respect our rights,” she pointed out. –Llanesca T. Panti Reporter, Manila Times