By Jel Santos
(MB PHOTO)
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has formally removed the purchase booklet from the list of requirements for senior citizens to avail of the mandated 20 percent discount and 12 percent value-added tax (VAT) exemption on medicines and medical devices.
In FDA Circular No. 2025-005, issued on Thursday, Sept. 4, the agency said the change is in line with the Department of Health’s (DOH) Administrative Order No. 2024-0017 entitled, “Purchase Booklets No Longer Required for the 20% Senior Citizens’ Discount on Medicines, in Compliance with Republic Act No. 9994.”
Republic Act 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, grants seniors a 20 percent discount and VAT exemption on medicines and devices.
The FDA clarified that while previous DOH orders had required the presentation of a purchase booklet for every transaction, the law itself did not mandate it.
“To streamline the requirements and remove undue regulatory burden to the availing Senior Citizens, the DOH has omitted the purchase booklet from the checklist of requirements,” the circular stated.
Under the guidelines, seniors or their representatives only need to present valid identification to avail of the discount.
Acceptable IDs include a Senior Citizens’ ID issued by the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA), a Philippine passport, or other government-issued IDs showing citizenship and proof of age such as a driver’s license, voter’s ID, SSS/GSIS ID, PRC card, or postal ID.
For prescription medicines and devices, a doctor’s prescription is still required. It must contain the senior citizen’s name, age, sex, and address; the date; generic name of the medicine; dosage form and strength; quantity; and the prescribing physician’s name, signature, address, and license number.
“All establishments shall grant a 20% Senior Citizen discount and a 12% VAT exemption on the purchase of medicines and medical devices, upon presentation of requirements reflected in Section VI of this Circular,” the FDA reminded.
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