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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider PH commission of senior citizens proposes moving from purchase booklet to centralized online database

PH commission of senior citizens proposes moving from purchase booklet to centralized online database

Published Feb 5, 2024 07:42 am

The National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) on Monday, Feb. 5 recommended the creation of a centralized online database to track purchases rather than utilizing the senior citizen’s purchase booklet.

NCSC Chairperson Franklin Quijano made the proposal of replacing the senior citizen’s booklet during the televised “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon” public briefing.

“I was looking at a centralized database na kung saan may data sharing ang lahat ng mga nagproprovide, mga merchants (where all providers and merchants share data),” Quijano said.

“At saka ang gobyerno should be able to provide a storage na kung saan malaman ng lahat ng users kung kulang ba o sobra yung biniling gamot kasi dapat tama lang based on the reseta at consumption ng senior citizens (The government should then be able to provide a storage facility where all users can determine whether the purchased medicine is too much or too little, as it should be accurate based on senior citizens’ prescriptions and consumption),” he added.

According to Quijano, senior citizens occasionally fail to use the booklet because they forget to bring it with them and show it, which keeps them from benefiting from the discount.

“Halos hindi na nagseserve ng purpose ang booklet at saka minsan hindi na naeenjoy ng senior citizen [ang discount] dahil naiiwanan sa bahay ang booklet at hindi naprepresent (The booklet hardly serves its purpose, and sometimes the senior citizen can no longer enjoy the discount because the booklet is left at home and not presented),” Quijano said.

He also said that the printing of millions of booklets for senior citizens contributes to deforestation.

The use of the senior citizen purchase booklet is stated in the law and the implementing rules and regulations of the Republic Act 9994, Quijano said.

“Sa ngayon kasi, dahil nasa batas yan, kinakailangan talaga na may booklet. Kung gusto man natin tanggalin, kailangan rin ng batas na magsaad and madefile lahat ng pamamaraan kung saan yung reckoning, yung recording, yung pagbilang ng mga tansactions ay malaman agad hindi lang ng seniors citizens, pati yung binilhan ng senior citizens (Right now, because it’s in the law, it’s really necessary to have a booklet. If we want to remove it, the law also needs to state and file all the methods where the reckoning, the recording, the counting of tansactions can be known immediately not only by senior citizens, but also by what was bought by senior citizens),” he added.

Quijano hopes that the government will be able to quickly create a database in the event that the booklet is no longer used.

In a position paper released by the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Program Management Bureau (PMB) last Feb. 1, it also recommended that the purchase slip booklet be removed as a requirement for senior citizens to purchase medicines, replacing it with digital records.

https://mb.com.ph/2024/2/2/to-scrap-or-not-to-scrap-senior-citizen-s-purchase-booklet-dswd-bureau-suggests-switching-to-digital-records

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franklin quijano National Commission of Senior Citizens senior citizen
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