Only 2 Bohol drugstores grant 20% senior citizen privileges

IN Bohol , only two drugstores are granting the legislated 20% discount as privileges to senior citizens, according to Porferio Ligason, a retiree from Bool District here. Ligason and several other senior citizens converged at the Jjs Seafoods Village where the House Committee on Population and Family Relations conducted its Bohol sortie for a hearing on the implementation of the Expanded Senior Citizen's Act of 2004. Ligason named Mercury Drug Store and Rose Pharmacy as only those who are sympathetic to their cause by granting them the discount on medicine purchases after showing them necessary documents. Similarly complaining senior citizens share Ligason's plight as they bemoan of the pathetic treatment they get the moment they start presenting their Office of the Senior Citizen's Affairs identifications cards to drugstores.

They reported to Representatives Reynaldo S. Uy, Partylist Reps. Rodante D. Marcoleta (Alagad) and Mario Joyo Aguja (Akbayan) that drugstores initially tell that their prescription medicines are available but suddenly goes out of stock when they draw their purchase forms and identification cards. As senior citizens here condemn in harshest possible terms the drugstores and pharmacies for denying them of the legislated 20% discounts as privileges, participants during the hearing on the implementation of the Expanded Senior Citizen's Act believe the government is partly to blame for the glitch.

In an oversight hearing, May 24, lawyer Rogelio Balaga disclosed that the Bureau of Internal Revenue has no guidelines on the tax incentives for drugstores offering the legislated discounts. Balaga, Tagbilaran Revenue District Officer said while drugstores which earlier extended services to senior citizens found out that the BIR could not credit their discounted sales as tax incentive, they rather not claim the costs as tax credits and charge full.

Rule VI of the Republic Act 9257 states that establishments may claim the discounts granted for establishments provided that the discount cost is deduced from gross income of the taxable year when the discount is granted. This is also in coordination with the BIR regulations and the provisions of the national internal revenue code, the law states. Meanwhile Western Samar Representative and House Committee on Population and Family Relations Chair Representative Reynaldo Uy said it is precisely the reason why the oversight committee is doing the provincial sorties to see how the law is implemented. Rep. Uy said if it needs to be, the oversight would want a test case by penalizing erring drugstores denying the privileges. Erring drugstores may get fined for P100T for the first offense or P200T and imprisonment for the second offense, RA 9257 states.

l