On Senior Citizen Discounts Drugstore Calls On Government to Lay Cost Recovery Guidelines

CEBU, Philippines - Albeit obedient to the government’s mandate to grant the 20 percent discount for senior citizens on the cost of medicines, a Cebu-grown chain of drugstores still hopes that the Government will hasten the guidelines on cost recovery on this incentive.

Boogie Lim, Rose Pharmacy’s managing director, said there is still no clear cut guidelines for Republic Act 9994, otherwise known as the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2003 from the Department of Health until now.

“We are losing. Almost all drugstores in the country are losing (due to this incentive.) Our margin s already small (as it is.) Rose Pharmacy is lucky, we can order in bulk for our chain of drugstores, (thus loss is minimal compared to those with only one or two branches,” he told the FREEMAN.

RA 9994 took effect last month despite the lack of cost recovery in the law’s IRR.

Robinson Uy, president of the Drugstore Association of the Philippines (DSAP) Cebu chapter, earlier said that the law was implemented without proper consultations with the affected sector.

Meanwhile, Rose Pharmacy’s Lim said during the opening of its 160th branch, located in Bridges Town Square, Mandaue City, this issue is not a hindrance to the company’s plan of putting up additional 10 branches nationwide this year.

Rose Pharmacy was established by Benjamin C. Lim and Rosario Borja-Lim in 1952. It sister-companies are Salon de Rose and hospital and medical equipment supplier, Berovan Marketing Inc. Rose Pharmacy started branching out of Cebu in the early 70s.

Lim said the entry of another Cebu-based chain of drugstores has not discouraged Rose Pharmacy, saying “competition in the drugstore industry will ultimately benefit the end-consumers.”