Senior Citizen Benefits In Philippines

[MikeB]

The financial benefits are considerable but it's not just monetary and using the senior check out line. You are prioritized at places like NSO and anyone who has ever been there will tell you that is a very good thing.

[Mike S]

Well I probably have less income than 90% of the people on the board as I live strictly on SS but I haven't had to scrimp and save to get by and have had no need of using a Philippine Senior Citizen card to get discounts ..... I use the buy one take one ..... sales when they come up and try not to waste anything ..... if I need to make a large purchase I save up or wait till it comes on sale ..... I don't waste money on things I don't need ..... and with all this I still manage to save 8800p per month on most months ...... (don't ask me how I do it just look at my budget I posted before) yes .... I do have money to fall back on if a disaster should happen ...... but I don't live on that only my SS ..... as I previously stated I would only use the PSC card for health care if it becomes available to ALL ex-pats ...... and I do have the Philhealth now but haven't had to use it ........ when I look at the poor Filipinos standing in the PSC card line and only buying a few hundred pesos worth of items and the clothes they wear and here I am getting the money that I get and living the way that I do I feel ashamed to be even thinking about using a PSC card ...... I know that feeling this way is not for everyone and to each his own .... this is just me and each of us has to live with his or her own conscience ....

[i am bob]

This is a very touchy subject for both sides I think..

To have the option of having the card and then again the option of choosing to use it or not is probably the best middle ground I can think of. Some ex-pats really and truly could use these benefits! Some don't! I know I would like to have the option available to me and at the same time I do not think I would use it except for the occasional thing like maybe the "head of the line" option on days my bad heart might be causing issues. Perhaps as I get older and my pension doesn't keep up with the COA in the Philippines, I may change my mind. But for now, well...

[MikeB]

Citizens of all countries have rights and privileges that non-citizens don't - and rightfully so. If the government, in their wisdom, decides to give older, foreign retirees this benefit I don't see a moral dilemma.

[Jollygoodfellow]

I feel that foreigners who have a seniors discount card while living in the Philippines are rorting the system and are as cheap as the cheap skates

Boss man I have agreed with you on many topics in the past & i understand your position on this

EXCEPT that some of us(expats/FM) are watching.pinching our pesos,cutting out some unneeded expense.

As some of us(expats/FM) are on a FIXED INCOME , every peso counts when the AUS/CAN/USD$ drops thats less money we can spend.

as we know this isnt Kansas we made a choice to live here .

When some of left our home country we lost some important benefits, which is $$ that we now must pay out of our pocket

(medicare.National health insurance ect )

in this forum many stories have been posted about being TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF or being overcharged Those who do this I am sure do this as to save $ and in an indirect way of taking advantage of a discount as the system usually looks the other way.

is what they do "legal",? well legal in the eye of the beholder way.

Am i cheap myself? I will not buy the cheapest item

but the lowest cost item IF it is a QUALITY MADE PRODUCT,

I myself have not used this discount BUT if the opportunity arose I would as long as i had obtained it from a "LEGAL" source to USE this discount.

The way I see it is that if you choose to live in another country then you should ensure you can afford to do so, if you use a discount card that is not meant for you because you are not Filipino then you are taking that little bit of profit off someone. Example: Someone buys at a restaurant and use's a card to save themselves money then have the cheek to tell everyone how hard it is for the locals to make a peso or feed the family.

I can not see your point about giving up benefits that you were entitled to back home? Did you ever work and pay tax in the Philippines? Why should they pay anyone's benefits who are not citizens or paid taxes?

I know that many have to watch their dimes,ops sorry Jim, cents or pesos and if you think I'm not one of them you would be mistaken. I have not seen my wife for 14 months as she lives in the Philippines and I live here in Aus because I can not afford it any other way right now and cant see much changing in the near future.

As for taking advantage or being over charged, happens all the time anywhere, go to a tourist area here in Australia and the prices are higher than other places.Go to the Gold coast in Queensland where they fly in Japanese and Chinese and take them to certain shops to buy from, there is a reason for it and its not for the tourist well being.

Some Filipinos might try to charge you a higher price and if one thinks about the logic then to them it is correct, if you had nothing all your life and struggle to feed yourself and along comes a millionaire as that's what we appear to be surly we can afford to pay a bit more than a local, they think. And they will never think any different unless they perhaps get to live in the perfect western world where money grows on trees and rents are cheap.

:sign0095:

[JJReyes]

Let me offer a different perspective on senior discounts.

This is a brilliant campaign to assure the proper reporting of revenues for purposes of tax collection. Philippine seniors demand the discount as their right and privilege. In exchange, the business (restaurants, pharmacies, etc.) receives a tax credit. Through computer based statistical analysis, the government can determine whether or not which businesses are under reporting their gross revenues. Extending the discount privilege to foreigners results in greater accuracy in reporting for tax collections purposes.

You don't need to offer senior discounts in Western countries because consumers use credit cards. Every transaction leaves behind an electronic paper trail. The Philippines is still a cash only society. The percentage of credit users is very small.

[retired]

Let me offer a different perspective on senior discounts.

This is a brilliant campaign to assure the proper reporting of revenues for purposes of tax collection. Philippine seniors demand the discount as their right and privilege. In exchange, the business (restaurants, pharmacies, etc.) receives a tax credit. Through computer based statistical analysis, the government can determine whether or not which businesses are under reporting their gross revenues. Extending the discount privilege to foreigners results in greater accuracy in reporting for tax collections purposes.

You don't need to offer senior discounts in Western countries because consumers use credit cards. Every transaction leaves behind an electronic paper trail. The Philippines is still a cash only society. The percentage of credit users is very small.

Very interesting idea . Have often wondered why local government offices would in fact promote the Senior Citizen card for expats in the first place . I do have one and have used a couple of times ( McDonalds ) both times . Seems to be two schools of thought regarding the use of such cards . Some seem to subcribe to the far left view that you are entiled and some to the far right view that you are a scroundel for not perusing the Philippine legal statues . Suspect most expats are somewhere in the middle ground regarding usage . :-)

To each his own...

[Jack Peterson]

:unsure: One thing that amazes me, is if you any nationality and are in the UK on a legal basis, any one over 60 has the prescription for Free. Come one, now this seems fair to m,e so meet us half way RPI Pensioners, are pensioners after all

[JJReyes]

any one over 60 has the prescription for Free.

Technically it is not free. You paid for it all your life through payroll deductions or contributions to a health plan or through government taxes.

A tooth was bothering me during a visit to the Philippines last April. My dentist, who is US trained and whose clinic is in ritzy Alabang, charged me around $30 for the appointment and two x-rays. There was a slight abcess, so the dentist gave me a prescription for antibiotics. I went to Mercury Drugs. The price for 21 pills was P126 or $3. I am self-employed and my monthly medical insurance premium is nearly $500. Prescription medication is co-pay. I am certain my co-pay portion would have been more than $3. The insurance does not include dental, so I would have had to pay the entire cost for medication.

The interesting part is the drug manufacturer is Pfizer Phamaceuticals. It was the same identical antibiotics they sell at much higher prices in the United States and Canada. Why the pricing discrepancy? Let's just say they make a small profit in the Philippines at $3 for 21 pills, and a much larger one in the United States and Canada.

[Jack Peterson]

any one over 60 has the prescription for Free.

Technically it is not free. You paid for it all your life through payroll deductions or contributions to a health plan or through government taxes.

Well I meant to them it is,, this is the point i was trying to make, I have no qualms about this, so I just see it as a50/50 thing, we look after the elderly or over60's, in the UK, regardless of nationality if they are there legally, Ha even the illegals get it, would not hurt to have the shoe on the other foot once in a while. :)