ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Long overdue change': Salceda lauds DOH for removing purchase booklet rule for seniors' medicine discounts

'Long overdue change': Salceda lauds DOH for removing purchase booklet rule for seniors' medicine discounts

Published Dec 23, 2024 08:47 am

At A Glance

  • Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda expressed his gratitude to the Department of Health (DOH) for heeding the call to remove senior citizens' requirement to present a purchase booklet in order to avail a 20 percent discount on medicines.

886392C6-714B-42D7-BA36-D724AC1B2089.jpegAlbay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda (PPAB)

Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda expressed his gratitude to the Department of Health (DOH) for heeding the call to remove senior citizens' requirement to present a purchase booklet in order to avail a 20 percent discount on medicines.

Salceda, chairperson of the House Committee on Ways and Means, recalled that his panel together with the Committees on Senior Citizens and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) requested this from the DOH in the first quarter of this year.

“Byebye booklet. I thank the DOH for making permanent the change we requested in the House’s joint committee hearings on senior citizens, PWD, and solo parents’ benefits,” the lawmaker said.

“It’s a long overdue change. Salamat (Thank you) PBBM (President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.) and salamat (thank you), [DOH] Secretary Ted Herbosa,” he added.

Salceda noted that during previous hearings, it was brought up that the booklet requirement often causes senior citizens to get denied essential medicines.

Given their age, he said, elderly Filipinos often forget these booklets or, at worst, even lose them.

Under DOH’s Administrative Order (AO) No. 2024-0017, the agency recognized that requiring senior citizens to present a booklet during every transaction only results in “undue burden and difficulties”.

United Senior Citizens Party-list Rep. Milagros Aquino-Magsaysay, for her part, said taking this requirement out makes the lives of senior citizens more convenient.

“Taking into account the mobility and tendency of our senior citizens to bring their purchase booklets for medicines, the deletion of the requirement not only gives premium to elderly convenience, it is only ecologically sound and friendly,” said Magsaysay.

The congresswoman noted that she has consistently advocated for the removal of the purchase booklet rule since the 17th Congress.

“We at the United Senior Citizens Party-list are thankful to the DOH. This is laudable and indeed an early Christmas gift to over 12 million older persons nationwide,” she added.

Following the DOH’s order, Magsaysay called on the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), among others, to further abolish the policy of presenting a purchase booklet to avail discounts on basic necessities and prime commodities.

Related Tags

Discount Senior citizens milagros Aquino Magsaysay Department of Health (DOH) joey salceda
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.