Punchline
The ‘SC’, a whole new world
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
As someone who has been blest with the ownership of a senior citizen’s card for a year now, I feel it my duty, nay my responsibility to write about my new kind of people – the beautiful, all-knowing senior citizens.
Before my conversion to this glorious state, I have always considered the senior citizen (SC) tag as a moniker for those who have been cruelly sidelined, made to yield not only their precious right to assert themselves, but to continue to dream the impossible and to enjoy everything meant for the young.
So when I finally crossed the line last year, I marked it quietly or perhaps surreptitiously, vainly trying to keep one foot outside knowing fully well that my other foot was already firmly rooted in the unknown realm of the “senior citizen”. The inquisitive part of me wanted to see what the world is like for an ‘SC’ yet cautious that others would begin not to look too kindly on a seemingly clumsy ‘SC’.
I tested the water soon as I got my official card enlisting me in the ‘SC’ army. I purposely visited Chowking, Jollibee, McDO and KFC outlets in the city, all in two days. I was eager to find out if, indeed, the number ’60’ has its magic.
Hey, it worked! Except for the fact that all the service crew shouted “Sir, may SC dito” (ostensibly to call the attention of the outlet manager) that sounded like “a cheapskate senior citizen is standing in front of me,” it felt good knowing I was finally getting a hefty discount for my junk food without having to twist somebody’s arm for it. I felt like the cop on duty being given a free ride or free coffee, and even better, like a government official given a ‘courtesy’ discount in a store. Then I felt a major adrenalin rush when I got my first discount on my Dagupan-Manila bus fare. That sure felt like I earned a 20% discount on a full tank of gas!
I should have turned 60, five years ago! Mababaw ba?
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But like the rest of my new favorite crowd, I feel cheated by the government each time I buy my medicines. We view the 12% e-vat of the blood-sucking Arroyo government like a ‘tong’ demanded by ‘kotong cops’ leaving us with only 8% take-home bonus instead of 20%.
But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Senator Pia Cayetano, the new senate committee chair on social justice, pledged to pick up the cudgels for the ‘SCs’ of the country. She knows it will be an uphill fight with Mrs. Gloria Arroyo on the other side, but she will carry the torch nonetheless.
Indeed, the matter of exemption from coverage of the 12% e-vat is not about a matter of added privilege for the ‘SC’ but rather a matter of compensation for the hundreds of thousands worth of direct and indirect taxes paid by the ‘SCs’ through out their productive years.
Meanwhile, to help sustain the assertive image of my new peers, I’ll be happy to extend my space here to support ‘SCs’ causes, particularly to expose in this corner which establishment/individual does not honor the rights and privileges accorded ‘SCs’ in the pursuit of their happiness in their twilight years. Let’s name names of individuals and establishments who decline to extend the 20% discount for restaurant food, groceries, medical treatment and tests, transport fares etc. Hopefully, these reports would be cause for investigation by the city/town health offices for possible violations of the sanitation code, the Department of Trade for violating the law, and yes, the BIR. And I got news for the would-be violators, there are SCs in those offices!
Let me be the first. There is the lady doctor, (her name escapes my mind right now. . . one of my privileged senior moments) accredited by the Dagupan LTO office to do the medical tests. After showing her my SC card, she acted unimpressed like she knew nothing about the discount due an SC. I reported her to LTO Dagupan chief Pat Urmaza, and he said he would call all medical centers and doctors to a meeting to make sure all SCs don’t suffer the same fate. Cheers to you, Pat! Oh yes, she didn’t even issue a BIR-registered receipt for my P100 fee, none to others as well too who preceded me. So assuming she takes the blood pressure of a minimum of 100 applicants a day, that’s a P10,000 tax-free income a day! Paging BIR!
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While Dagupan City has added to the list more “special care” for the ‘SC’, i.e., requiring supermarkets to provide special express lanes, I’ve yet to hear a city or town that can beat Makati City, a true haven for the local ‘SC’.
The Makati-based ‘SC’ is entitled to free movies, anytime and in any theater in the city; gets a P1,000 cash gift and a cake on his birthday, and more importantly, exemption from coverage of the traffic coding and immunity from arrests for minor traffic violations in the city.
I love this whole new world of the ‘SC’! Happy Easter!
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