Tibaldo: Rights of a Senior Citizen

DID you know that Filipino senior citizens can now avail an educational assistance if qualified for school admission and mandatory PhilHealth coverage when they are brought to a treatment or medical center?

According to the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, the Department of Health, local government units and other concerned organizations are mandated to institute a national healthcare program for the elderly.

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Section 4 of the act mentions the various privileges of senior citizens such as the granting of 20% discount from all establishments relative to the utilization of services in hotels and similar lodging establishment, restaurants and recreation centers, and purchase of medicines in all establishments for the exclusive use or enjoyment of senior citizens, including funeral and burial services for the death of senior citizen. In case of death, the nearest surviving relative of the deceased senior citizen shall get P2,000.

The act also includes the granting of a minimum of twenty percent 20% discount on admission fees charged by theaters, cinema houses and concert halls, circuses, carnivals, and other similar places of culture, leisure and amusement for the exclusive use or enjoyment of senior citizens.

Those who are 60 and above carrying a valid identification cards are exempted from payment of individual income taxes provided that their annual taxable income does not exceed the poverty level as determined by the National Economic and Development Authority for that year.

To motivate the senior citizens to contribute to nation building and encourage them in community development activities, the act exempts them from training fees in socioeconomic programs.

For those who want to pursue post secondary, tertiary, post tertiary, as well as vocational or technical education in both public and private schools, senior citizens are also entitled to educational assistance through provision of scholarship, grants, financial aid subsidies. Qualified citizens who meet the minimum admission requirement are also given incentives that include support for books, learning materials, and uniform allowance.

The senior citizens are also granted free medical and dental service, 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 Department of Health in coordination with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation.

The grant of 20% discount on medical and dental services, diagnostic and laboratory fees is also provided under Section 4 of the act which also covers professional fees of attending doctors in all private hospitals and medical facilities, in accordance with the rules and regulations issued by the Department of Health, in coordination with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation;

Aside from the grant of twenty percent discount in fare for domestic air and sea travel for the exclusive use or enjoyment of senior citizens, the act also grants twenty percent discount in public railways, skyways and bus fare for the exclusive use of senior citizens.

This policy according to the act is consonant with the constitution’s principle to give full support to the improvement of the total well-being of the elderly and their full participation in society considering that senior citizens are integral part of Philippine society.

The act recognizes the rights of senior citizens to take their proper place in society and therefore are entitled to a comprehensive health care and rehabilitation system for disabled senior citizens to foster their capacity to attain a more meaningful and productive ageing; and

But, to avail themselves of these benefits, senior citizens should present their passport or other documents establishing their citizenship and age.

I therefore urge all senior citizens and Filipinos aged 60 and above to avail the benefits of the expanded act by first securing an identification card from the Office for Senior Citizens Affairs in their locality.

Senior citizens can also avail a five-percent discount on their waters bill if their monthly consumption is less than 30 cubic meters and electric bills if their consumption is less than 100 kilowatt-hours.

The Republic Act warns that anyone who abuses the privileges granted in the law shall pay a fine of P5,000 to P50,000, and shall be jailed for at least six months.