5
Jul
Leaders of Persons with Disabilities (PWD) together with some officials from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Department of Agriculture (DA) dicussed in the DTI office in Makati City the special benefits and discounts for Persons with Disability.
The PWD sector led by Mr. Lauro Purcil and Mr. Manuel Agcaoili discussed the joint administrative order by the DTI and DA. This was on the Implementing Rules and Regulations on the Grant of Special Discounts to Persons with Disability on the Purchase of Basic Necessities and Prime Commodities pursuant to Section 32 (j) of Republic Act 9442 also known as the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons.
The joint administrative order which is still pending due to some expected revisions was based on the Senior Citizens Act. The primary objective of this is that every person with disability shall enjoy a special discount of five percent (5%) of the regular retail price of basic necessities and prime commodities.
In order for the PWDs to avail the said privileges, they must present their identification card (ID) issued by the local government unit where he/she resides. The problem with this is that not all local government units (LGU) especially those in the rural places were aware about the PWD’s Magna Carta. “The problem when it comes to the ID matter is that not all city or municipal governments issuing the said thing. Here only in the Metro Manila, only few cities were issuing ID cards for PWD: Makati City, Marikina City, Quezon City and the City of Manila.
Agcaoili also noticed that the discounts were only available in big time shopping malls and groceries and hardly found in public markets, talipapa (small markets) and sari-sari store (variety stores). “Most of the PWDs do not come from rich families. Majority of them belong to the less fortunate ones, so their appeal to the DTI to inform the owners of the sari-sari store they must also follow in accordance with the said Magna Carta.
The stores which give discounts to the senior citizens and the PWDs are given tax credits by the government via the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). However, the BIR does not give tax credits to the store owners and so they do not give any discounts anymore. “Discounts like this were benefits given by the government and should be imposed properly. The private sector only supports what the government really wants. Wag na po nating pahirapan ang may kapansanan, hirap na po sila” [Don’t let the person’s with disability to suffer more, they were already suffering at the moment], Mr. Agcaoili added.
Then DTI assures that the discounts can be availed nationwide by the PWDs. Some towns especially those in rural areas have not been properly informed yet. And this has resulted in confusion among sellers.
