Senior shortchanged?

Egay Uy .

SECTION 4 of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 1994 (RA 9994) provides for the “provision of express lanes for senior citizens in all commercial and government establishments,” and in the absence of such express lanes, “priority shall be given to them.”

This provision may be interpreted as mandatory in nature because that section starts with the directive that “senior citizens shall be entitled” to the privilege of having an express or priority lane in all commercial and governmental establishments.

Not a few senior citizens will however agree with me that not all commercial establishments have provided express or priority lanes.  I have personally noticed this absence in at least one fast food outlet in a local shopping mall.

As I noticed the absence of a priority sign, and when my turn came to be attended to by the cashier, I inquired.  The reply was, “Wala man mi priority lane sa senior, sir.”  Of course, I did not have to argue with the fast food employee.

If this outlet will still not provide priority or express lanes in my next visit, I will bring this matter to the DTI or the Office of Senior Citizens Affair (Osca) in my personal capacity as a senior citizen, not as co-chair of the Cagayan de Oro City Price Coordinating Council.

That is one side of the story.  The other side is on the computation of discounts. The same fast food outlet but is located in another mall, computed wrongly the senior citizen’s discount I was supposed to be entitled to.

I was with wife Juliet and we ordered something what else but to eat.  The SC discount net of VAT was not deducted from the total bill but from a portion only.  I inquired how the discount was computed and the supervisor was quite apologetic saying, “Ma-o na man gud na ang gina compute sa cash register, sir” even as she acknowledged the computation was not right.

Simply stated, the SC discount and VAT should have been deducted from the total bill, not just from a portion of it because the order was for Juliet and me.  And we did not over-order. We had two main meals and a bowl of soup.

As an aside, while I was listening to the explanation of the supervisor, somebody from behind me said, “Kuhaa sa among order, Miss.” When I looked back, lo and behold, it was retired judge Greg Pantanosas whom I have not seen for some time already.

In the course of the kumustahan, he inquired if he had to pay the fine corresponding to notice of violation (not a traffic citation ticket) issued by a traffic enforcer. Judge Greg said he parked his car along the highway in front of Nazareno Church while briefly attending to something there.

I informed him I was no longer with the traffic office, and suggested to him to claim his senior citizen’s “parking privilege” from the traffic office in Kauswagan.