Philippine Senator, Lito Lapid, passed a bill to give a 20% gasoline discount to the nation’s elderly. It was summarily quashed by the Senate committee on Social Justice. The senators instead said that they will push for more medical discounts and health benefits for the elderly as well as a P1000 pension.
The elderly and gasoline owner representatives said that the bill was not practical. On the side of the elderly, they said that not much senior citizens own a car (should they be even allowed to drive?) while the gas owners said that the discounts are too huge that they will incur losses.
In the Philippines there are existing laws that gives senior citizen discounts to the elderly. One has but to apply for Senior Citizen card when one has reached the legal age to be classified as a Senior Citizen. With the card, they can purchase on discount medicines as well as food in restaurants. Because the discounts are huge, establishments have been strictly enforcing the guidelines of the rules.
In one fast food establishment I ate at, when my mother in law applied for the discount, the cashier at the counter checked to see which orders were specifically for my mother in law before applying the discount to that portion only. In pharmacy’s, I’ve seen pharmacists write on the patients prescription that the discount has already been applied in that particular pharmacy. So in case of a refill, the senior citizen will have to get a new prescription filled out by their doctor in order to avail of another senior citizen discount.
They say that a nation should be judged by the way it treats the elderly. As they were the ones who carried the nations back when they were still young. That’s why I praise Local Government Units that go out of their way to take care of the poor. Some Cities in the Philippines, such as Makati, is well known for taking good care of their senior citizen’s via discounts and free passes. I heard that they even deliver free birthday cakes to the elderly in Makati during their birthday. One senior citizen I knew said that he looked forward to the weekdays that movie theatres offered free movie passes to them.
[source]
Category: Automotive, Law
