DSWD: Only OSCA-issued IDs entitle senior citizens to discounts

Only ID cards issued by the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) will entitle senior citizens to discounts due them under the law, the Department of Social Welfare and Development has said. DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman said membership cards issued by senior citizens associations will not necessarily be recognized for granting privileges and benefits under the Expanded Senior Citizens Act (ESCA 2010). "Senior citizens are not compelled to become members of senior citizens groups, or to procure said membership cards to avail of discount privileges," Soliman said in an article posted on the DSWD website. She issued the clarification amid inquiries if membership cards issued by senior citizens associations will guarantee their rights and privileges provided under the law. “No Filipino elderly should be forced to become a member of a senior citizens association if one does not want to, nor should an older person be threatened that he or she cannot avail of senior citizens’ benefits without said membership," Soliman said. Besides, she said, the OSCA-issued ID is the only valid ID required by business establishments and medical facilities for senior citizens to avail of the 20-percent discount. On the other hand, she clarified there is currently no national or unified senior citizens ID card yet that will be used as a basis for disbursing the P500 monthly social pension for indigent senior citizens. “At present, the OSCA-issued IDs will be used since it maintains its value as a standard document proving one’s seniority, and is valid anywhere in the country. Eventually, once the intended beneficiaries have already been identified, prospective social pensioners will be issued a proper ID card for that purpose," she said. Various senior citizens associations, such as the Federation of Senior Citizens Associations of the Philippines (FSCAP), Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VRF) and the Association of Retired Postal Employees and Senior Citizens (ARPES), may continue to issue ID cards to their members fro their own purposes, she added. — LBG, GMA News