Issuance, date, and effectivity
- Republic Act No. 10754 is approved on March 23, 2016.
- The law takes effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation (Section 6).
- Implementation of the law must proceed upon its effectivity even if implementing rules are not timely promulgated (Section 3).
Core policy and purpose
- Republic Act No. 10754 expands the benefits and privileges of PWD by further amending the Magna Carta for Persons with Disability provisions on discounts, educational assistance, and related incentives (Sections 1 and 2).
Definitions and eligibility proof
- Republic Act No. 10754 uses the identity and eligibility proof requirements contained in amended Section 32 for claiming the benefits.
- A PWD must be a Filipino citizen to access the privileges (amended Section 32).
- A PWD must submit any one of the following proof:
- An identification card issued by the city or municipal mayor or the barangay captain of the place where the PWD resides (amended Section 32(a)).
- The passport of the PWD concerned (amended Section 32(a)).
- A Transportation discount fare Identification Card (ID) issued by the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (NCWDP) (amended Section 32(a)).
- PWD privileges are not claimable if the PWD claims a higher discount granted by the commercial establishment and/or under other existing laws or in combination with other discount programs (amended Section 32).
Substantive benefits and discounts
- PWD are entitled to at least twenty percent (20%) discount and exemption from value-added tax (VAT), if applicable, on the following for the exclusive use and enjoyment or availment of the PWD (amended Section 32(a)).
- Eligible goods and services include:
- Hotels and similar lodging establishments (fees and charges related to utilization of services) (amended Section 32(a)(1)).
- Restaurants and recreation centers (amended Section 32(a)(1)).
- Theaters, cinema houses, concert halls, circuses, carnivals, and other similar places of culture, leisure and amusement (admission fees) (amended Section 32(a)(2)).
- Purchase of medicines in all drugstores (amended Section 32(a)(3)).
- Medical and dental services including diagnostic and laboratory fees (including x-rays, computerized tomography scans and blood tests) and professional fees of attending doctors in all government facilities, subject to DOH guidelines issued in coordination with PhilHealth (amended Section 32(a)(4)).
- Medical and dental services including diagnostic and laboratory fees and professional fees of attending doctors in all private hospitals and medical facilities, in accordance with DOH rules and regulations issued in coordination with PhilHealth (amended Section 32(a)(5)).
- Fare for domestic air and sea travel (amended Section 32(a)(6)).
- Actual fare for land transportation travel such as public utility buses or jeepneys (PUBs/PUJs), taxis, Asian utility vehicles (AUVs), shuttle services and public railways including LRT, MRT, and PNR (amended Section 32(a)(7)).
- Funeral and burial services for the death of the PWD (amended Section 32(a)(8)).
- Funeral and burial discount claim rules:
- The beneficiary or any person who shoulders funeral and burial expenses must claim the discount for the deceased PWD upon presentation of the death certificate (amended Section 32(a)(8)).
- Allowable funeral/burial expenses under the coverage include:
- purchase of casket or urn,
- embalming,
- hospital morgue,
- transport of the body to intended burial site in the place of origin (amended Section 32(a)(8)).
- Obituary publication and the cost of the memorial lot are excluded from covered expenses under the funeral/burial discount rule (amended Section 32(a)(8)).
Educational assistance and government-provided privileges
- PWD are entitled to educational assistance to pursue primary, secondary, tertiary, post tertiary, and vocational or technical education in both public and private schools through scholarships, grants, financial aids, subsidies and other incentives to qualified PWD, including support for books, learning materials, and uniform allowance to the extent feasible (amended Section 32(b)).
- PWD must meet the minimum admission requirements to receive the educational assistance (amended Section 32(b)).
- To the extent practicable and feasible, PWD must receive the continuance of the same benefits and privileges provided by GSIS, SSS, and Pag-IBIG enjoyed by persons in actual service (amended Section 32(c)).
- The government may grant special discounts in special programs for PWD on the purchase of basic commodities, subject to guidelines to be issued for the purpose by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) (amended Section 32(d)).
- Establishments must provide express lanes for PWD in all commercial and government establishments; when express lanes are not available, priority must be given to PWD (amended Section 32(e)).
Incentives for caregivers and tax treatment
- Those caring for and living with a PWD receive incentives under amended Section 33 (Section 2).
- For PWD within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity to the taxpayer, regardless of age, who:
- are not gainfully employed, and
- are chiefly dependent upon the taxpayer,
the caregiver is treated as having the PWD as dependents under Section 35(b) of the NIRC of 1997, as amended (amended Section 33(a)).
- As dependents, individual taxpayers caring for qualified PWD receive the privileges granted by the Code insofar as having dependents under the same section is concerned (amended Section 33(a)).
Establishment tax deduction for discounts
- Establishments may claim the discounts granted under amended Section 32(a) for:
- paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (7), and (8),
as tax deductions based on the net cost of the goods sold or services rendered (amended Section 32).
- paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (7), and (8),
- The cost of the discount is allowed as a deduction from gross income for the same taxable year that the discount is granted (amended Section 32).
- The total amount of the claimed tax deduction (net of value-added tax, if applicable) must be included in the establishment’s gross sales receipts for tax purposes and is subject to proper documentation and to the provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), as amended (amended Section 32).
Implementation and rules issuance
- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) must promulgate the necessary implementing rules and regulations, in consultation with:
- the Department of Health (DOH),
- the Department of Finance (DOF), and
- the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) (Section 3).
- Failure of the concerned agencies to promulgate the implementing rules does not prevent implementation of the Act upon its effectivity (Section 3).
Separability, repealing, and effect
- If any provision of Republic Act No. 10754 is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions not affected remain in full force and effect (Section 4).
- All laws, orders, decrees, rules and regulations, and other parts inconsistent with Republic Act No. 10754 are repealed, amended, or modified accordingly (Section 5).