Benefits under new senior citizens law

Dear PAO,

I am a retired schoolteacher. I am living with my daughter who is married with three children since my husband passed away in 2009. I have been hearing about the new senior citizen law. Please apprise me of the benefits I can get from it being a senior citizen.

Thank you so much and more power.

Mommy Concha

Dear Mommy Concha,

We would like to acquaint you that as early as 1992, our country has already a Senior Citizen Law which is Republic Act (RA) 7432. The said law was enacted to maximize the contribution of senior citizens to nation building and to grant them benefits and special privileges. One of the benefits granted by this law to senior citizens is the 20-percent discount on purchases of essential goods and services.

In 2003, Republic Act 9257, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2003, was enacted to amend RA 7432 and to grant additional benefits and privileges to senior citizens. Recently, another law was passed to further amend RA 7432. This is Republic Act 9994, or the “Expanded Senior Citizen’s Act of 2010.

Section 4 of RA 9994 expressly enumerates the privileges and benefits granted to senior citizens, to wit:

“Section 4 Section 4 of Republic Act No. 7432, as amended by Republic Act No. 9257, otherwise known as the “Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2003”, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

SEC. 4. Privileges for the Senior Citizens. –

The senior citizens shall be entitled to the following:

(a) the grant of twenty percent (20%) discount and exemption from the value -added tax (VAT), if applicable, on the sale of the following goods and services from all establishments, for the exclusive use and enjoyment or availment of the senior citizen

(1) on the purchase of medicines, including the purchase of influenza and pnuemococcal vaccines, and such other essential medical supplies, accessories and equipment to be determined by the Department of Health (DOH).

x x x

(2) on the professional fees of attending physician/s in all private hospitals, medical facilities, outpatient clinics and home health care services;

(3) on the professional fees of licensed professional health providing home health care services as endorsed by private hospitals or employed through home health care employment agencies;

(4) on medical and dental services, diagnostic and laboratory fees in all private hospitals, medical facilities, outpatient clinics, and home health care services, in accordance with the rules and regulations to be issued by the DOH, in coordination with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth);

(5) in actual fare for land transportation travel in public utility buses (PUBs), public utility jeepneys (PUJs), taxis, Asian utility vehicles (AUVs), shuttle services and public railways, including Light Rail Transit (LRT), Mass Rail Transit (MRT), and Philippine National Railways (PNR);

(6) in actual transportation fare for domestic air transport services and sea
shipping vessels and the like, based on the actual fare and advanced booking;

(7) on the utilization of services in hotels and similar lodging establishments, restaurants and recreation centers;

(8) on admission fees charged by theaters, cinema houses and concert halls, circuses, leisure and amusement; and

(9) on funeral and burial services for the death of senior citizens;

(b) exemption from the payment of individual income taxes of senior citizens who are considered to be minimum wage earners in accordance with Republic Act No. 9504;

(c) the grant of a minimum of five percent (5%) discount relative to the monthly utilization of water and electricity supplied by the public utilities: Provided, That the individual meters for the foregoing utilities are registered in the name of the senior citizen residing therein: Provided, further, That the monthly consumption does not exceed one hundred kilowatt hours (100 kWh) of electricity and thirty cubic meters (30 m3) of water: Provided, furthermore, That the privilege is granted per household regardless of the number of senior citizens residing therein;

(d) exemption from training fees for socioeconomic programs;

(e) 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;

(f) the DOH shall administer free vaccination against the influenza virus and pneumococcal disease for indigent senior citizen patients;

(g) educational assistance to senior citizens to pursue secondary, tertiary, post tertiary, vocational and technical education, as well as short-term courses for retooling in both public and private schools through provision of scholarships, grants, financial aids, subsidies and other incentives to qualified senior citizens, including support for books, learning materials, and uniform allowances, to the extent feasible: Provided, That senior citizens shall meet minimum admission requirements;

(h) to the extent practicable and feasible, the continuance of the same benefits and privileges given by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Social Security System (SSS) and the PAG-IBIG, as the case may be, as are enjoyed by those in actual service;

(i) retirement benefits of retirees from both the government and the private sector shall be regularly reviewed to ensure their continuing responsiveness and sustainability, and to the extent practicable and feasible, shall be upgraded to be at par with the current scale enjoyed by those in actual service;

(j) to the extent possible, the government may grant special discounts in special programs for senior citizens on purchase of basic commodities, subject to the guidelines to be issued for the purpose by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Agriculture (DA);

(k) provision of express lanes for senior citizens in all commercial and government establishments; in the absence thereof, priority shall be given to them; and
(l) death benefit assistance of a minimum of Two thousand pesos (Php2,000.00) shall be given to the nearest surviving relative of a deceased senior citizen which amount shall be subject to adjustments due to inflation in accordance with the guidelines to be issued by the DSWD.

x x x”

As a senior citizen, you may avail of the above-mentioned benefits and privileges. Be mindful, however, that in order for you to avail the same, you have to submit as proof of your entitlement any of the following:

(1) identification card issued by the Office of the Senior Citizen Affairs (OSCA) of the place where you reside;
(2) your passport; and
(3) other documents to show that you are a citizen of the Philippines and is at least sixty (60) years of age. (Section 4, last paragraph)

We hope that we were able to give you insights regarding the matter. –PERSIDA ACOSTA, Manila Times

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net or via text message (key in: Times dearpao and send to 2299).

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