Question & AnswerQ&A (DTI DEPARTMENT ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 03)
This Order shall apply to all senior citizens and retailers as defined under Section 2 of the Order.
They include canned sardines and tuna; evaporated, condensed, and powdered filled milk; coffee; bread; white and brown sugar; cooking oil; instant noodles; luncheon meat, meat loaf, corned beef, frozen/refrigerated/preserved ready-to-cook pork, beef, and chicken; and powdered, liquid, bar laundry and detergent soap.
Any resident citizen of the Philippines who is at least sixty (60) years old.
Retailers include supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience and mini-convenience stores and shops, bakeries, but exclude sari-sari stores, wet markets, talipapa, and cooperative stores.
Every senior citizen shall enjoy a special discount of Five Percent (5%) on the regular retail price of basic necessities and prime commodities listed.
The total amount of said purchase shall not exceed Six Hundred Fifty Pesos (₱650.00) per calendar week without carry-over of the unused amount.
A senior citizen must present his/her identification card issued by the Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) of the city or municipality where he/she resides. Retailers may also request other government-issued IDs if in doubt.
The purchase booklet, distributed by OSCA, is presented every time a purchase is made. It contains the senior citizen’s name, the list of basic commodities, retailer’s name and address, date of purchase, and amount to track the discount usage.
Yes, a senior citizen who cannot personally purchase may appoint a representative via written authority who must present valid IDs of both the senior citizen and themselves along with an authorization letter.
Retailers shall provide a special lane for senior citizens whenever practicable.
Penal and administrative sanctions as provided under Republic Act No. 9257 (Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2003) apply.
The Order took effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in two national newspapers of general circulation.