THE Cebu City Council has formalized through an ordinance the privilege of senior citizens giving them free movie access for the first showing every Monday and Tuesday.
The ordinance states that a senior citizen living in Cebu City, who presents his Senior Citizen’s card can watch a movie for free on Mondays and Tuesdays except during the first day of showing, holidays and weekends.
Before the approval of the ordinance, senior citizens were only entitled to a 20 percent discount, said Domingo Chavez Jr., head of the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA).
The ordinance carries a penalty clause for movie houses that would not follow the ordinance: P500 fine for the first offense, P1,000 for the second offense and P1500 for the third offense.
The ordinance takes effect on July 1, after its publication.
There are around 91,000 card-bearing senior citizens in Cebu City.
“Such rights and roles of senior citizens are important concerns of the city government,” the ordinance states. “This (ordinance) provides an effective mechanism in addressing the said concerns, especially in showing utmost respect to senior citizens.” /Rabboni Borbon, USJ-R Intern