Mercury Drug Corporation, one of the largest drugstore chains in the country, has agreed to honor the 20-percent discount for persons with disabilities (PWDs) in compliance with Republic Act 9442, or the amended Magna Carta for PWDs of 2006.
The drugstore chain signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party and the House of Representatives committee on social services pledging to honor the discount.
The MOA was signed on Tuesday afternoon by Mercury Drug President Vivian Que-Azcona, AKBAYAN party-list Rep. Walden Bello, and House committee on social services chair Arturo Robes.
Bello said based on consultation with various PWDs, Mercury Drug was a “violator” of the discount on medicines for the consumption of PWDs that Republic Act 9442 required.
In a statement, Mercury Drug claimed it did not implement the 20-percent discount after its experience with RA 7432 or the Senior Citizens Act of 1992. It said it immediately implemented RA 7432 even without the implementing rules and regulations, “believing in the just and fairness of the law and in the propriety of the elderly.”
“However, the anticipated fairness of the law was saddened by the issuance by the Bureau of Internal Revenue of Revenue Regulation No. 2 series of 1994, by treating the grant of the 20% discount as tax deduction instead of tax credit; and the expected propriety of the elderly was frustrated by the abuses made by unscrupulous persons,” said lawyer Edsel Manuel, who represents the drugstore chain, at a press conference Tuesday.
“With the limited space to move and limited air to breathe, certainly, gradual death by suffocation will happen to drugstores,” said Manuel, citing reduction in sales, profit, and drain in the company’s cash flow, as well as RA 9502 or the Cheaper Medicine Law of 2008.
The MOA allows Mercury Drug to set up the appropriate system that would facilitate the provision of the 20-percent discount on all medicine and medical supply purchases by PWDs within a month’s time. The drugstore will also provide the House committee on social services with bi-monthly reports regarding their compliance with law.
Mercury Drug’s concession came after four hearings in connection with Akbayan’s House Resolution 221, which was filed August last year and called for an investigation into different drugstores’ refusal to provide PWDs the discount mandated by law.
However, Mercury Drug appealed to the government and to PWDs to allow a six-month moratorium to prepare before fully implementing the law.
According to the drugstore, preparation includes POS system modification in accordance with BIR regulations, employment of additional personnel in all branches nationwide who would cater to the needs of PWDs, coordination with the Health department in the verification of PWD IDs, store signs and employees’ training and orientation.
The drugstore also asked for serious consideration of several amendments to RA 9442, including granting the discount as tax credit, and burden sharing among manufacturers, suppliers and retailers on the 20 percent discount. It also said only deserving and indigent PWDs should be given discounts, and that medicines subject to discount should be related to the disability supported by the prescription.
“Drugstores are already over-burdened by discounts and price regulations, which endangers its survival,” said Manuel as he suggested that all future legislations granting discounts on medicines consider all of the aforementioned parameters.
Several representatives from the PWD sector saw the MOA as cause for celebration.
“Ito po ay araw ng tagumpay para sa Mercury Drug kasi finally na-realize nila na dapat silang sumunod sa batas at sila ay kaibigan na rin ng mga may kapansanan. Ito rin ay tagumpay ng Kongreso na siyang gumagawa ng batas, dahil finally ang kanilang ginawang batas ay ipapatupad. Ito rin ay tagumpay sektaryang may kapansanan dahil finally natuto na rin ang gobyerno na ipatupad ang aming batas,” said Lauro Purcil of Alyansa ng May-Kapansanang Pinoy, Inc. (AKAP Pinoy).
(This is a success of Mercury Drug, because they finally realized that they should follow the law and be a friend to PWDs. It is also a success of Congress, because it came out with the law. It is also a success of the PWD sector, because finally the government learned to implement a law that would benefit them.)
“Ang decision ng Mercury Drug ay isang malaking tulong para sa pamilyang tulad namin na may anak na may autism (Mercury Drug’s decision will be a big help for us parents of children with autism),” said Mary Grace Adviento of the Autism Society Philippines (ASP).
While the MOA is a welcome development, several representatives of the PWD sector expressed reservations about the agreement, particularly on the six-month moratorium requested by Mercury Drug.
“I think six months is too long,” said AKAP Pinoy chairman Noli Agcaoili.
He said there is no need to amend RA 9442 as it is a “valid” law. “The problem is in the implementation.”
On the other hand, Carmen Zubiaga of Women with Disabilities Leap Social and Economic Progress Inc. (WOWLEAP) sympathized with Mercury Drug and promised support for the amendment.
New Vois Association of the Philippines Inc. president Emer Rojas, meanwhile, said six months is an acceptable waiting period. “Technically as an engineer I know it’s not that possible to change the system within one month.” - KBK, GMA News
