CEBU, Philippines - Only identification cards (IDs) issued by the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) of local government units and not membership cards issued by senior citizens associations will entitle seniors to the 20-percent discount privilege and other benefits under the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.
This is the clarification issued by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) following reports that there are senior citizens using ID cards issued by senior citizens associations or groups to avail of discounts from different establishments.
In an interview with The FREEMAN, social welfare information officer Jaybee Binghay said the identification cards issued by the OSCA are the only valid IDs required by business establishments and medical facilities to avail of the 20 percent discount.
Both Republic Act 9994 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations put a premium on the use of the OSCA-issued senior citizen ID cards by making it the primary documentary requirement for availing of the 20% discount from different establishments.
Various senior citizens associations like the Federation of Senior Citizens Associations of the Philippines (FSCAP) and their regional counterparts around the country, RSCAPs, Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP), Coalition of Associations of Senior Citizens and the Association of Retired Postal Employees and Senior Citizens (ARPES) can continue to issue and maintain their own IDs, however, these IDs are only proof that they belong to said organizations and could not be used to avail of the 20 percent discount.
Likewise, the memorandum of Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said that senior citizens are not compelled to become members of senior citizens groups, or to procure said membership cards to avail of discount privileges.
According to Soliman, “no Filipino elderly should be forced to become a member of a senior citizens association if he/she doesn’t want to, nor should he/she be threatened that he/she cannot avail of senior citizens benefits without said membership.” (FREEMAN)