Seniors call on GMA to sign benefits bill

MANILA, Philippines - Councilor Jorge Banal, president of the Quezon City chapter of the Federation of Senior Citizens’ Associations of the Philippines (FSCAP), appealed to President Arroyo yesterday to sign the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2009.

The bill gives additional benefits and privileges to senior citizens, primarily exempting them from the 12 percent value-added tax (VAT) and granting P500 monthly pension to indigent elderly.

Speaking during a Feb. 1 rally initiated by the Coalition of the Services of the Elderly (COSE), Banal said the signing of this bill into law is a legacy of the 14th Congress and the Arroyo administration.

He said the implementation of the bill would be humanitarian and timely since many of the country’s five million senior citizens, who contributed to nation-building during their younger years, have meager resources to support them during their twilight years.

Banal, recently re-elected president of FSCAP-National Capital Region (NCR), said he and all FSCAP officials and members join all senior citizens in telling Mrs. Arroyo that exempting the elderly from the 12 percent VAT would be the best Valentine’s Day gift.

Meanwhile, the newly elected officers and directors of FSCAP-NCR, led by Banal, have scheduled their induction on Feb. 27 at the Manila Pavilion Hotel. Invited guests are officials who have been actively involved in the enactment of the bill, which include Senators Pia Cayetano and Edgardo Angara, Reps. Eduardo Zialcita and Reynaldo Uy, Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and FSCAP national officials, led by president Eliseo Lachica.