| PGMA
vows to sign expanded Senior Citizens Act
LAHUG,
Cebu City (PND) – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
today promised to sign the Expanded Senior Citizens
Act with all its provisions intact.
“I
will certainly not veto it,” the President told
reporters after her visit to the Qualfon Quality Contact
Services here this afternoon.
The
proposed law exempts senior citizens from the value
added tax. It thus gives them the full 20-percent discount
when purchasing medicines and other consumer services.
Under the law currently in force they get to enjoy only
an 8 percent discount because of the imposition of the
12 percent VAT.
Already
ratified by both the House of Representatives and the
Senate, the bill also entitles indigent or non-pensioner
senior citizens to a monthly pension of P500; free medical
insurance and disability assistance through PhilHealth,
including free anti-flu and anti-pneumonia vaccines;
and a P2,000 burial assistance.
The
discount also applies in hotels, restaurants and similar
establishments; cinemas, theaters and other places of
culture, leisure and amusement; and funeral homes.
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