A SENATOR has filed a bill that will bring down the age of senior citizenship to 56 from 60, allowing earlier access to benefits, including the option to retire and claim pension.
“It is only appropriate that we lower the age, so that our elderly compatriots can become senior citizens. In today’s times, especially with the pandemic, many are not lucky enough to reach the age of sixty,” Senator Ramon B. Revilla, Jr., said in Filipino in a statement on Tuesday.
“So, while there is still time, let’s value them by extending the benefit. Let’s remember that their hands shaped whatever good we enjoy today,” he added.
Senate Bill 1573 seeks to amend Republic Act 7432, which defines a senior citizen as any resident citizen of the Philippines at least 60 years of age.
Under the current law, seniors can cease payment of contributions and start claiming the monthly cash benefit from pension funds such as the Social Security System for the private sector and Government Service Insurance System for civil servants.
The bill, if passed, will also allow Filipinos at least 56 years of age to receive retirement benefits from both the government and the private sector at par with the current scale enjoyed by those in service, as prescribed under Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.
Senior citizens are also entitled to a 20% discount and value-added tax exemption on medicines, medical supplies and equipment, transportation fares, hotels, restaurants, recreation centers, and other places of leisure.
Other benefits for seniors include a minimum of 5% discount on monthly water and electricity bills; exemption from training fees for socioeconomic programs; free medical, dental, diagnostic, and laboratory services in all government facilities; and death benefit assistance, among others.
Death benefit assistance of at least P2,000 will also be given to the nearest surviving relative of a deceased senior citizen. The amount will be adjusted based on inflation, in accordance with the guidelines to be issued by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
“From the beginning, my desire as an elected public servant is to help and ease the lives of every Filipino, especially those who belong to the sector that is often left aside. Our grandparents are one of them,” Mr. Revilla said.
“They relentlessly contribute to economic growth. Their contribution to the advancement of our society and country will never be underestimated,” he added.
The senator has also filed Senate Bill 1558, which will require establishments, such as restaurants, libraries, recreational centers, and venue halls to provide priority seating for seniors. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan