De Lima wants to expand senior citizen discounts on medicines, supplements

Senator Leila de Lima has filed a measure mandating establishments, drug stores and merchants to expand discounts for senior citizens.

De Lima filed Senate Bill 1973 expanding the grant of 20 percent discount and exemption from the Value Added Tax (TAX) of senior citizens to include medicines, supplements, vitamins, herbal products and formulated milk duly prescribed or recommended by physicians.

In filing the measure last January 7, De Lima, chairperson of the Senate committee on social justice, underscored the need to address the urgent and persistent demand of Filipino elderlies, especially amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Our senior citizens have contributed immensely to the growth and progress of the country. As they reach the twilight of their lives, it is our responsibility as a society to ensure their rights and privileges, and that proper accommodation and care are given to them,” she said.

Republic Act 9994, or the “Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010,” the most recent version of the Senior Citizens Act, defined and granted discounts on essential medical supplies, accessories and equipment, but glaringly failed to define the term “medicines.”

The failure to define said term, De Lima stressed, has been used by businesses as an excuse to refuse to fully or adequately honor the privileges of the elderly.

“In refusing to honor the discounts and exemptions, merchants have cited the lack of specific provisions in the law that identify which privileges can be granted when making such purchases,” she said.

To cure the gap in the law, De Lima’s bill defines the term “medicine” as “prescription and non-prescription/over-the-counter drugs, both generic and branded, duly prescribed by physicians, and approved by the department of health (DOH) and the Food And Drug Administration (FDA), which are intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of human disease.”

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)