A proposal by two lawmakers to scrap the purchase slip booklet needed by senior citizens to get discounts entitled them by law for medicines and basic commodities has the backing of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and, certainly by most elderly people, who tend to forget such booklet in their homes for emergency purchases.
The proposed scrapping was voiced by Rep. Erwin Tulfo (ACT-CIS Partylist) and Rep. Stella Quimbo (Marikina, 2nd district) based on preliminary findings of their legislative investigation earlier this week, in response to several complaints from senior citizens.
DSWD spokesman Romel Lopez said on Friday that "in previous years, the Department received various concerns and complaints through various means of communication relative to the availment of senior citizen discounts."
Lopez said 24 complaints were received by the department regarding the purchase booklets in 2022 and 2023.
DSWD Secretary Rexlon Gatchalian said the department will communicate with the Department of Health (DoH) and other relevant agencies to begin the process of abolishing the booklet, the Manila Times reported.
Gatchalian has asked the agency's Program Management Bureau (PMB) to research and provide recommendations on the purchase booklet.
The bureau proposed that the booklet be replaced by digital purchase records for senior citizens who tend "to forget to bring their booklets and even read their contents."
"With the fast-paced technology and innovations, it is recommended to adopt an established system for monitoring, storing, and reporting data towards an efficient, consistent, and uniform implementation of the law and provisions for the availment of medicines, basic necessities, and prime commodities, among others," the PMB said in its February 1 position paper, the Times continued.
The DoH said the primary objective of the purchase slip booklets is to assist drugstores in tracking senior citizens' most recent purchases of a certain medicine.
Baguio Rep. Mark Go has submitted House Resolution 1263, which calls for an end to the implementation of the purchase slip booklet as a required procedure for senior citizens purchasing medications and goods.
On October 24, 2023, the DSWD sent a letter to DoH expressing its support for the elimination of the purchase slip booklet and welcoming any prospective changes that could simplify the guidelines, as long as purchase monitoring is ensured until digitalization.
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