20% online purchase discount for elderly, PWDs pushed

MANILA – A lawmaker at the House of Representatives on Wednesday urged concerned government agencies to immediately draft and implement guidelines extending the applicability of the 20-percent discount for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) to all online transactions.

In filing House Resolution 1880, Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas said with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and restrictions on their movements, many senior citizens and PWDs have resorted to buying online, but are not extended the required discounts.

Vargas, who chairs the House Committee on Social Services, noted the “lack of clear guidelines” from national agencies tasked with implementing the provision on the discounts mandated by law for these sectors.

“With the lack of clear guidelines from implementing agencies regarding the special discounts on online transactions, millions of Filipino senior citizens and persons with disabilities are unable to avail of the privileges that they rightfully deserve under the law,” he said.

Vargas cited that under existing laws, the elderly and PWDs are granted a 20 percent discount on purchases, which, he said, do not make any exemptions for online purchases.

“The Expanded Senior Citizens Act and the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities do not make any distinction on the applicability of its privileges and special discounts between offline and online transactions, and must thus be interpreted to be available for online purchases,” Vargas said.

Vargas said consumer advocacy groups have asked the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to release the guidelines to allow the elderly and the PWDs to avail themselves of the discounts for their online purchases as early as October 2020.

But as of May this year, Vargas said the DSWD and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) “have confirmed that they have yet to release the guidelines after important consultations with other national government agencies.”

He reminded these agencies that it is the government’s duty to ensure with an urgency that public services for the people are made accessible especially for the marginalized and underprivileged.

“Given the importance of online transactions in the everyday life and subsistence of Filipinos especially belonging in the senior citizens and persons with disabilities sector, it is imperative that the government establish and properly implement the necessary guidelines for special discounts on online transactions to uphold the rights and welfare of the elderly and persons with disabilities with the privileges they are entitled to under the law,” Vargas said.

Aside from the DSWD and the DTI, the resolution also urges the National Commission for Senior Citizens, the National Commission on Disability Affairs, and other relevant government agencies to immediately draft and implement the guidelines.