Policy and purpose
- The State provides adequate social services and an improved quality of life for all.
- The State adopts an integrated and comprehensive approach toward health development.
- Health development receives priority for elderly persons among others.
Core definitions
- “Senior citizens” means any person who is at least sixty (60) years of age.
- “Center” means the place established by this Act with recreational, educational, health and social programs and facilities designed for the full enjoyment and benefit of senior citizens in the city or municipality.
Coverage and where centers operate
- A senior citizens center is established in every city and municipality in the Philippines.
- Each Center is under the direct supervision of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
- Each Center operates in collaboration with the local government unit concerned.
Center functions and program scope
- Each Center acts as an extension of the fourteen (14) regional offices of the DSWD.
- Each Center identifies the needs, trainings, and opportunities of senior citizens in its city or municipality.
- Each Center initiates, develops, and implements productive activities and work schemes for senior citizens to provide income or otherwise supplement their earnings in the local community.
- Each Center promotes and maintains linkages with provincial government units and other government instrumentalities and with city and municipal councils for the elderly.
- Each Center coordinates with the Federation of Senior Citizens Association of the Philippines and other non-government organizations for delivery of health care services, facilities, professional advice services, volunteer training, and community self-help projects.
- Each Center performs other functions necessary to carry out the purpose for which the Centers are established.
Center supervision, workers, and volunteers
- The Secretary of the DSWD may designate social workers from the Department as workers of the Centers.
- The Secretary of the DSWD may appoint other personnel with necessary professional qualifications to work efficiently with the elderly of the community.
- The Secretary of the DSWD may call upon private volunteers who are responsible members of the community to provide medical, educational and other services and facilities for the senior citizens.
Eligibility limits and referrals
- A senior citizen who suffers from a contagious disease may be denied the benefits provided in the Center.
- A senior citizen who is mentally unfit or unsound may be denied Center benefits.
- A senior citizen whose actuations are inimical to other senior citizens may be denied Center benefits.
- Denial is based on a determination by the DSWD on the basis of an appropriate certification by a qualified government or private volunteer physician.
- When denial applies, the Center refers the senior citizen concerned to the appropriate government agency for needed medical care or confinement.
Exemptions from duties, taxes, and tariffs
- The Center is exempt from payment of customs duties, taxes and tariffs on the importation of equipment and supplies used actually, directly, and exclusively by the Center pursuant to this Act.
- The exemption includes equipment and supplies donated to the Center.
Implementing rules and public officials’ liability
- Within sixty (60) days from approval of Republic Act No. 7876, the DSWD, in coordination with other government agencies concerned, must issue the rules and regulations to effectively implement the Act.
- Violation of the rules under Section 9 makes the concerned official(s) liable under Republic Act No. 6713 (the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees”) and other existing administrative and/or criminal laws.
Government coordination and support services
- The DSWD, in coordination with the Department of Health, other government agencies, and local government units, assists in the effective implementation of the Act.
- The DSWD provides necessary support services to implement the Act effectively.
Appropriations and operating subsidies
- Funds necessary to carry out Republic Act No. 7876 are included in the General Appropriations Act of the year following enactment and in every year thereafter.
- The continuous operation of the Centers is subsidized in part by the DSWD and in part by the local government units concerned.
Repealing and amending clause
- All laws, decrees, executive orders, and rules and regulations that are inconsistent with Republic Act No. 7876 are modified, amended, or repealed accordingly.