Manila, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has affixed her signature Tuesday, to the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 (ESCA), or Republic Act No. 994. This is a law that would benefit some five million elderly Filipinos in the form of discounts on certain goods and services.
“The President has signed the bill,” said deputy presidential spokesperson Charito Planas. The official copy of the measure arrived in Malacanang on Monday night.
The law allows senior citzens to avail themselves of the full 20-percent discount they are supposed to enjoy. The discount was reduced to 8 percent with the imposition of the 12-percent value-added tax on certain goods and services in 2005.
