A measure seeking to expand the benefits and privileges for senior citizens hurdled committee level at the House of Representatives.
During Tuesday's hearing, the House Committee on Ways and Means approved an unnumbered substitute bill consolidating 22 proposals that aim to ease the seniors' daily expenses and ensure their welfare.
Committee chair, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, said the bill seeks to institutionalize reforms and progress made by the joint committee for the benefit of senior citizens.
“Today, the House Committee on Ways and Means approved the unnumbered substitute bill to the comprehensive senior citizens benefit act. This is the culmination of months of work of the joint committees on Ways and Means, Senior Citizens, and Disability Affairs,” Salceda said.
He said among the key provisions of the bill is the removal of the senior citizen booklet requirement for availing discounts.
“I insisted that removal of the requirement of the booklet for availment of senior discounts be institutionalized in the proposed bill. That way, no future administrative issuance can take this progress away,” Salceda said.
The bill introduces a range of new benefits for seniors, including a PHP2,000 tollway discount for expressway users.
“The capped discount ensures that seniors are able to avail of the benefit while protecting it from abuse,” he said.
Additional benefits include expanding the senior citizen discount for transport network vehicles, such as Grab and Angkas; raising utility discounts from 5 percent to 15 percent for water and electricity consumption up to 200 kilowatt hours; and applying the 20 percent discount to online sales.
To offset the cost of these benefits, he said, businesses could deduct the cost of value-added tax (VAT) discounts from their gross income, distributing the financial burden between the government and private sector rather than “being merely passed on to consumers.”
“As a consensus bill backed by months’ worth of consultations, this should pass Congress, even through the lame-duck session, if it gets to that,” Salceda said. (Filane Mikee Cervantes/PNA)
