The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is supporting the move by two congressmen for the abolition of the senior citizen’s purchase slip booklet following numerous complaints coming from the elderly.
DSWD Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications Romel Lopez said the agency received numerous complaints about it in previous years through various channels. “A total of 24 complaints were received in 2022 and 2023,” he said in a press release sent Friday, Feb. 2.
ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Erwin Tulfo, a former DSWD secretary, and Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo proposed the abolition of the purchase slip booklet for senior citizens based on the initial findings of their congressional inquiry early this week.
DSWD Sec. Rex Gatchalian echoed this position and said his agency will take the lead in reaching out to the Department of Health (DOH) and other concerned agencies to commence the operationalization of the booklet’s abolition.
Gatchalian directed the agency’s Program Management Bureau (PMB) to study and make recommendations to resolve this issue.
In a position paper dated Feb. 1, 2024, the DSWD-PMB in a position paper dated Feb. 1, 2024, proposed the adoption of digitized records for the elderly instead of using the booklet.
“With the fast-paced technology and innovations, it is recommended to adopt an established system for monitoring, storing, and reporting data towards an efficient, consistent, and uniform implementation of the law and provisions for the availment of medicines, basic necessities, and prime commodities, among others,” the DSWD-PMB said.
