The Promise and Peril of Caring for the Philippines’ Elders

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — June 10, 2025

LOLA Remedios, 78, clutches her worn senior citizen ID as she shuffles into a cramped Manila pharmacy, her hands trembling from diabetes and the weight of hope. The new 20% discount on medicines, courtesy of House Bill 11400, means she might finally afford her insulin. But the pharmacist, a weary small business owner named Carlo, frowns as he scans his dwindling stock. “I can’t keep up,” he mutters, “not with these discounts cutting my margins to the bone.” Across the street, a sari-sari store owner puzzles over how to verify Remedios’ ID for an 8.5% grocery discount, while a traffic officer dreads the chaos of seniors—exempt from coding rules—clogging Manila’s already choked roads. Who wins and who loses in this bold expansion of welfare for Filipino seniors?

A Welfare Revolution or a Ticking Time Bomb? The Policy Breakdown

House Bill 11400, passed unanimously by the Philippine House of Representatives on June 4, 2025, with 177 votes, marks a dramatic leap beyond the 2010 Expanded Senior Citizens Act. That earlier law, Republic Act No. 9994, offered a 20% discount on medicines, medical services, and basic goods, plus free public transport and priority access to government facilities. HB 11400 turbocharges this framework: it extends the 20% discount to online purchases, transport network services like Grab, and even golf club fees; introduces a 15% discount on electricity (up to 200 kWh) and water (up to 50 cubic meters); grants an 8.5% discount on basic necessities; and provides a ₱25,000 death benefit to surviving relatives, adjustable for inflation. Seniors also gain exemptions from traffic coding schemes and parking fees, provided they drive or ride in vehicles registered in their name.

Innovations dazzle—online discounts embrace the digital age, and utility subsidies ease soaring costs. But storm clouds gather. Will the 15% electricity discount bankrupt rural electric cooperatives, already cash-starved, as they swallow losses on 200 kWh limits? How will e-commerce platforms verify senior status without invasive data grabs—scanning IDs, tracking purchases, or worse? The 2010 act stumbled on spotty enforcement; HB 11400’s vast scope risks a full-blown crisis.

Globally, the Philippines’ discount obsession bucks trends. India battles for seniors with free healthcare and family support laws, while the U.S. dangles tax deductions—$50,000 for interest income under its 2025 Income-Tax Bill. Discounts feel urgent, visceral, but are they a house of cards? With no clear funding beyond hazy budget promises, is this a fiscal disaster in the making, bleeding businesses and non-senior consumers dry?

Cracks in the Dream: The Gritty Fight for Senior Benefits

Behind the bill’s shine, fault lines rupture. I met Marites, a 68-year-old widow in Quezon City, locked out of online discounts without a smartphone—her relief at cheaper medicine fades when websites demand digital IDs she can’t secure. At a Tondo sari-sari store, owner Josie, 42, squints at faded senior cards, torn over an 8.5% discount that could sink her. “I want to help, but I’m barely surviving,” she says, a plea from small retailers nationwide. A Makati traffic officer, sweating under the sun, recoils at the coding exemption: “If every senior drives at rush hour, we’re paralyzed. And how do I check IDs in gridlock?”

Fairness fractures further. Toll fee and parking exemptions pamper wealthy seniors with cars—Lola Remedios, tethered to jeepneys, gets nothing. Rural elders, distant from expressways or golf clubs, miss out on urban-skewed perks. And the ₱25,000 death benefit, though poignant, baffles some: “Why not aid the living?” asks a barangay captain, warning verification snarls could delay funds for years.

Execution stumbles loom. The 2010 act faltered—hospitals and stores dodged discounts, citing sloppy rollout, a 2022 Eastern Visayas State University study revealed. HB 11400’s reach—online sales, utilities, transport—craves ironclad systems. Yet how does a barely digitized sari-sari store confirm eligibility? How will the government track millions in discounts without drowning in red tape or fraud?

Backroom Deals and Shaky Lifelines: The Battle for Power

The 177-0 vote for HB 11400 stuns—unanimity in a divided House screams rare unity. But is this heartfelt accord or a political masquerade? Lawmakers, eyeing 2025 elections, may have raced to woo seniors, a potent voting bloc. Whispers hint at resistance: utility firms quietly lobbied, I’m told, terrified of revenue slashes from the 15% discount. E-commerce titans, daunted by coding complex discounts, pushed back too, sources claim, but drowned in a pro-senior flood. No dissent hit the record—did pressure muzzle critics, or was support ironclad?

Enter HB 11395, institutionalizing the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) program, passed with 176 votes the same day. It vows financial, medical, and psychosocial aid to indigent seniors and others, fueled by annual budgets and social worker reviews. A godsend—yet its vague eligibility, leaning on DSWD whims, unnerves skeptics. “It’s a corruption trap,” a Mandaue City official hissed, recalling aid scandals where funds fattened cronies. Documentation rules aim to block abuse, but without fierce oversight, will AICS lift the needy or line corrupt pockets?

Will We Abandon Our Elders? A Desperate Plea for Justice

Lola Remedios queues for hours, dreaming of her ₱25,000 bereavement aid, while Josie tallies losses and traffic snarls loom. HB 11400 and AICS dangle hope—cheaper bills, wider aid—but wobble on fragile footing: underfunded, tough to enforce, and lopsided in reach. If we can’t afford to care for the generation that built our nation, what does that scream about our future?

Action can’t wait. Means-test lavish benefits like toll exemptions to reach the desperate, not the rich. Forge a secure, simple digital ID system for online and in-person checks. Slap sunset clauses on both bills, demanding a fiscal showdown in five years. The Philippines can cherish its elders, but only if noble dreams tackle brutal truths. Will lawmakers and the DSWD step up, or leave seniors—and our nation—teetering on the edge?

Key References

House approves bill expanding seniors’ benefits – Philippine Star news report on HB 11400’s passage, June 4, 2025.
Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 – Official text of Republic Act No. 9994, detailing original senior benefits.
Evaluation of RA 9994 implementation – Eastern Visayas State University study, October 29, 2022, on RA 9994’s enforcement challenges.