Senior Citizen Party-list Representative Rodolfo Ordanes said the House committee on ways and means has approved the increase to 15 percent the discount on electricity and water utilities monthly billings, but the discount is limited to households that do not consume more than 100 kilowatts per hour of electricity and 30 cubic meters of metered water.
The decision on the revenue provisions of the unnumbered substitute bill on senior citizen discounts was reached at a meeting of the House committee on ways and means.
“The original proposal in the substitute bill consolidating eight bills was 10 percent discount, but this was increased to 15% after it was conceded that the proposed value-added tax exemption would result in about P3.1 billion pesos in revenue losses for the national government, so the VAT exemption was dropped and the discount was raised to 15%,” Ordanes said.
“The revised approved unnumbered bill gives households with seniors a net gain because of the 15% discount.”
“Overall, the revised approved unnumbered bill gives households with seniors a net gain because of the 15% discount. These households will have to update their electricity and water utility accounts to tell the utility companies that they have registered senior citizens among them so they can be eligible for the discount under the Expanded Senior Citizens law,” the veteran legislator added.
In his sponsorship remarks, the chairman of the House Committee on Senior Citizens said the discount is needed because indigent seniors’ households are suffering from elevated inflation and the resulting erosion of the purchasing power of the peso.
The seasoned lawmaker thanked Congressman Mark Go for pointing out that in the 18th Congress, the House approved a similar senior discount bill, but the Senate lacked material time to work on and approve that measure.
