Senior citizens discounts database pushed

INQUIRER.net file photo

MANILA, Philippines — Instead of relying on purchase/discount booklets, the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) is pushing for a unified database that merchants can utilize.

NCSC Chairperson Franklin Quijano said on Monday it is impractical to keep using booklets, which, however, is mandated by the law.

Hence, another law is needed on revised system of keeping track of senior citizen discounts.

“I was looking at a centralized database where there is data sharing provided to all merchants,” said Quijano in  English and Filipino at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing.

“I hope that our Congress will also help us prepare, of course,’ he said.

Users of the senior citizen card should also have a system to track their medicine purchases, said Quijano.

Quijano also reasoned that booklets use paper, which impacts the environment and that there are instances when senior citizens misplace or leave their booklets when making a purchase.

To recall, ACT-CIS party-list Representative Erwin Tulfo called for the removal of the booklet, stating that the senior citizen’s identification card is sufficient for claiming discounts in establishments.

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian has also directed the DSWD Program Management Bureau (PMB) to study the feasibility of the booklet. The PMB said that the booklets were inconvenient, as some senior citizens forget to bring them when making purchases.

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