Are all senior citizens entitled to discounts in food establishments all over the country, or do local governments decide on their own what benefits their elderly can enjoy?

 

I know free movies are at the discretion of city governments, but I always assumed discounts in public transportation and food establishments are given anywhere in the country.

 

A senior citizen ate at a bakery-cafeteria almost next door to the Caloocan City Hall. She also ordered food for takeout. She presented her senior citizen ID card when she paid to get a discount, but the cashier told her the senior citizen discount did not apply to takeout food.

 

This is news to me. I know that discounts are given even for food deliveries if the caller informs the establishment beforehand that he/she is a senior citizen.

 

Through our Metro section editors, I asked our reporter covering Caloocan to inform the local government of the complaint. But the public information officer told her senior citizen IDs were “honored only in grocery stores, supermarkets and drugstores in Caloocan.” This means Caloocan City senior citizens do not even get fare discounts.

 

Do the elderly in Caloocan know that they have fewer benefits than other seniors in Metro Manila?

 

Useful invention

 

I just read about a multipurpose chair developed by Dr. Romulo Sanchez of the Nueva Vizcaya State University. The chair can also be used as a ladder and an ironing board.

 

This is the kind of furniture that will be very useful now that cramped condominium living is the norm for a growing number of people. At the moment, condo dwellers buy imported furniture designed specifically for their limited spaces.

 

I hope that Filipino financiers will support the commercial production of Sanchez’s invention. I fear that if they move too slowly, foreign entrepreneurs might just buy the patent from the inventor, and we will be importing what was ours initially.

 

Nuisance calls, spam texts

 

There are people who probably have landlines for the first time or have nothing better to do than call numbers randomly to annoy, even harass, those who answer the phones. With many telephones now capable of registering caller numbers, I would advise these pranksters to be careful that their few minutes of fun do not lead to the disconnection of their phones, or even police records.

 

I mentioned the problem to the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company and I have been assured they have already established procedures for dealing with nuisance calls.

 

Meanwhile, Yoly Crisanto says those who have problems with “spam” text messages from Globe phones can bring their complaints to the network’s business offices so they can be dealt with. The network does not tolerate the abuse of its system. All those unwanted messages and calls clog up the system, adversely affecting legitimate use.

 

Smart says those who want to file complaints with the National Telecommunication Commission, the government agency that regulates the communication industry, should log on to https://www.ntc.gov.ph/complaintpage2.php. A complaint form in PDF file format may be downloaded from https://www.ntc.gov.ph/publicassistance_textmessage.php

 

If a specific government agency, say Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, is mentioned in those messages, particularly the ones announcing your good fortune in winning a prize in a raffle, report the message and/or call  the office concerned.

 

BSP, working with law enforcement agencies, has already sent to jail at least one person who made people believe they have won in a raffle conducted by the country’s top financial authority.

 

 

Send letters to The Consumer, Lifestyle Section, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 1098 Chino Roces Ave. cor. Mascardo and Yague Sts., 1204 Makati City; fax 8974793/94; or e-mail [email protected].