THE House Special Committee on Senior Citizens has approved several measures that seek to provide more benefits, protect and ensure the safety of senior citizens .

Among these are the House Bill 5018 or the bill that protects seniors from scams or any form of fraud; House Bill 7298, or the Senior Citizens’ Discounts for Vitamins, Minerals, and Food Supplements Act; a substitute bill on more discounts on electricity and water, and a measure on discount on traffic fines.

Members of the committee said these measure would further improve the quality of life of the elderly, who have already spent the best years of their lives for the country and contributed largely to nation building.

HB 5018 author Parañaque City Rep. Gus Tambunting said it is important to educate the public, senior citizens, their families, as well as their caregivers on identifying and preventing fraudulent activities targeting senior citizens,

HB 7298, authored by OFW Party-list Rep. Marissa del Mar Magsino and Manila Rep. Ernesto Dionisio Jr., seeks to give discounts also on herbal products and value added tax (VAT) exemption to senior citizens.

Magsino noted that the present 20 percent discount on medicines for senior citizens does not cover supplements.

Seniors will also be given discounts and be exempted from paying VAT on their consumption charges of the elderly, once the RA 7432 is amended.

The committee approved HB 5409, expanding the coverage of senior citizens’ discount, amending RA No.7432; HB 5402, granting 20 percent discount on the traffic fines of senior citizen-drivers.

Meanwhile, the House Committee on Health approved a consolidated bill seeking to establish the National Center for Geriatric Health (NCGH) and Research Institute, as well as regional geriatric specialty centers in Department of Health (DOH)-retained hospitals.

The panel unanimously agreed to use HB 10697, which was approved on third and final reading in the 18th Congress, as the lead bill to consolidate the several measures.

In the hearing, Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. asked the reason behind the removal of the donated beds at the NCGH, as well as the budget utilization of the NCGH.

Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRMMC) chief Dr. Wenceslao Llauderes explained that they had moved the donated beds to the JRMMC since the NCGH no longer accepts patients after the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) determined that the NCGH could not function as a stand-alone hospital.

“We need to apply for a particular PhilHealth accreditation for this particular purpose. One basic need of the hospital to apply for PhilHealth accreditation is the need to apply for the license to operate (LTO) under the DOH. So there are some requirements that we need to comply with, so ‘yon ang problema Sir,” Llauderes said.

Kabayan Party-list Rep. Ron Salo pointed out that the Licensing Division of the DOH should be proactively coordinating with all the government hospitals to ensure that they are aligned with the agency’s licensing policies.

For Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, JRMMC’s failure to obtain an LTO for the NCGH as their attached department for 13 years is “inexcusable negligence.”

Agusan del Norte Rep. Jose Aquino II moved for a formal inquiry to be conducted to clarify the licensing and accreditation operations of the JRMMC, NCGH, PhilHealth and other concerned government agencies. Physical presence of resource persons shall be required in the said investigation.