Two business groups are opposed to the removal of the booklets used by senior citizens and persons with disability to purchase groceries and medicines.
The Philippine Consumer Centric Traders Association said the law only authorizes up to P1,300 in weekly purchases for certain basic goods in the supermarket.
The Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 grants senior citizens a 20-percent discount and exemption from value-added tax on the sale of specific goods and services from all establishments for their exclusive use and enjoyment.
“If there is no booklet, there will be no way to check if a senior has purchased more than what is allowed under the law,” the association said.
The Philippine Retailers Association pointed out the booklet requirement protects the system from abuse, as buyers could jump “from store A to store B” to get basic necessities in excess of their requirements, said PRA director Paul Santos.
“He might buy not just for himself, but also for his family,” Santos said.
The retailers were responding to a proposal by Deputy Majority Leader and ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo to remove purchase booklets as a requirement for senior citizens, calling them “useless and an additional burden” for the elderly.
Tulfo aired his sentiments during the resumption of the House Committee on Ways and Means hearing on the motu propio inquiry into the implementation and policies that provide discounts, incentives and tax exemptions for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs).
To get discounts, senior citizens must bring their senior citizen ID and a purchase booklet when they shop in supermarkets, convenience stores, and pharmacies.
He said most senior citizens tend to forget their booklets and when this happens, they are not granted discounts by business establishments.
United Senior Citizens party-list Rep. Milagros Aquino-Magsaysay agreed with Tulfo’s suggestion to abolish the requirement.
“I find it useless that a booklet has to be shown apart from the senior citizen (ID),” she said.
For his part, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda also agreed with Tulfo, and because of this he will be added as a member of the technical working group (TWG) tasked to craft a new law for senior citizens.
Meanwhile, the Pharmaceutical and Health Care Association of the Philippines suggested the use of the QR code system to replace the booklets.
The group said the Department of Information and Communication Technology or any government agency could design the QR system which would be embedded on the senior citizens or PWD ID.
This way, the pharmacies or stores can monitor the purchases without the need for a booklet.
Pharmacies have started to remove the 12-percent value added tax for some medicines related to specific illnesses as announced by the Bureau of Internal Revenue the other day.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said doing away with the senior citizen’s discount booklet requirement for buying medications and other necessities will address the many complaints regarding its use.
“We support the position of Representatives Tulfo and Stella Quimbo to do away with the senior citizen booklet,” DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said, adding that the agency will take the lead in reaching out to the Department of Health (DOH) and other concerned agencies to commence the operationalization of the booklet’s abolition.
The DSWD chief said he had directed the agency’s Program Management Bureau (PMB) to further study and make recommendations on the senior citizen purchase booklet.
The DSWD-PMB earlier recommended that the purchase slip booklet be removed as a requirement for senior citizens to purchase medicines, replacing it with digital records.
“Considering the mobility and tendency to forget to bring their booklets and even read their content, it is no longer convenient on the part of senior citizens to use purchase slip booklets,” the DSWD-PMB said.
Although it did not have a provision mandating the use of purchase slip booklet, the DOH came out with an Administrative Order that required senior citizens to present a purchase slip booklet to all hospitals and drug stores.
It said the main purpose of the purchase slip booklets is to help the drugstores to monitor the last purchase made by senior citizens for a certain medicine.
Because of the DOH issuances, Rep. Mark Go also filed House Resolution No. 1263 calling for a stop on the implementation of the purchase slip booklet as a mandatory requirement in the purchase of medicines and goods by senior citizens.
The DSWD has issued a letter addressed to DOH stating its support for the removal of the purchase slip booklet and welcomed any potential modification that will streamline the requirements, provided that the monitoring of purchases is ensured pending the digitalization.
The Trade Department on Friday clarified that there is no active move to phase-out the use of discount booklets by senior citizens on purchases of basic necessities and prime commodities.
Trade Assistant Secretary for Consumer Protection Group Amanda Nograles said the matter is yet to be discussed with the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC).
“What we’ve discussed with the NPCC was the removal of the booklet for purchase of medicines of senior citizens, which is under DOH mandate,” she said.
Nograles said the Department of Trade and Industry has not had any formal discussions on the reported proposal to remove or phase-out purchase cards for senior citizens.
“There should be a thorough assessment of the current practice and how we can strengthen protection for senior citizen consumers,” she said.