Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 18) — A bill seeking to exempt senior citizens from paying the value added tax and granting them a bigger discount rate in their electric and water bills has been approved by the House of Representatives.
House Bill 10568, which would amend the Republic Act 7432 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, was passed with no abstentions on third and final reading on Monday.
The discount in their utility bill goes up to 10% from the previous 5% under this House bill.
The bill will now be transmitted to the Senate to undergo deliberations.
Senior citizens will benefit from this bill if their monthly consumption does not exceed 150kwh of electricity and 30 cubic meters of water, and that the senior citizen under whose name the individual meters of said utilities is registered continues to live within the household address.
Aside from HB 10568, 18 other bills were passed weeks before the adjournment for the upcoming elections. The vital measures include bills that aid higher education and protect human rights, namely:
– HB 10555: The proposed “Free College Entrance Examinations Act” seeks to mandate private higher educational institutions (HEIs) to waive college entrance examination fees to underprivileged high school students and high school graduates belonging to the top 10 percent of the graduating class.
– HB 10560: The bill mandates the establishment of the Tertiary Education Subsidy in all state universities and colleges, local universities and colleges, private HEIs, and technical vocational institutions to Filipino students enrolling in the first undergraduate post-secondary tertiary education of their choice.
– HB 10561: The measure seeks to establish the Enterprise-Based Education and Training Program which will strengthen middle-level manpower education and training programs and at the same time ensure the steady supply of educated and competitive manpower equipped with the appropriate skills and desirable work habits and attitudes to meet the requirements, demands, and standards of the workplace both in the local and international market.
– HB 10569: The proposed “Magna Carta on Religious Freedom Act” aims to ensure that no act of the government, or any of its instrumentalities, officers or employees shall burden, curtail, impinge or encroach on the person’s right to exercise one’s religious belief, freedom and liberty of conscience.
– HB 10576: The bill aims to recognize and protect the rights and fundamental freedoms of a human rights defender.
