In Legal Parlance

In response to the constitutional mandate to give priority to the needs of the underpriviledged, sick, elderly, disabled, women and children, the State enacted Republic Act No. 9257, the Senior Citizens Act of 2003.

The Senior Citizens law is a laudable piece of legislation. Not only does it recognize the rights of our elderly, it likewise motivates and encourages the senior citizens to contribute to nation building, as they are in fact integral part of the Philippine society. In the process, the law solicits the full support and participation of society to help the elderly find their proper places in the society and in the process improve the ederly’s total well-being.
Under the law, senior citizens are accorded special rights and privileges to enjoy. Foremost of these privileges is the 20% discount on the following services for the exclusive use or enjoyment of senior citizens:

a. Hotels and similar lodging establishments, restaurants, and recreation centers;
b. Medicines, including funeral and burial services for the death of senior citizens;
c. Admission fees charged by theaters, cinema houses and concert halls, circuses, carnivals, and other similar places of culture, leisure and amusement;
d. Medical and dental services and diagnostic and laboratory fees, including professional fees of attending doctors in all private hospitals and medical facilities. In government facilities, however, medical and dental services, diagnostic and laboratory fees, e.g. x-rays, computerized tomography scans and blood tests are free.
e. Fare for domestic land, air, and sea travel;

Senior citizens are also exempted from the payment of individual income taxes, provided that their annual taxable income does not exceed P60,000, i.e P5,000 a month.

They are likewise exempted from payment of training fees for socioeconomic programs conducted by government. Qualified senior citizens who desire to pursue post graduate, as well as vocational or technical, education, may also avail of educational assistance through scholarship, grants, financial aid subsidies and other incentives, including support for books, learning materials, and uniform allowance.

Social security benefits of senior citizens are continued. Government is likewise mandated to regularly review the retirement benefits of our elderly to ensure the program’s responsiveness and sustainability. Commercial and government establishments are exhorted to give priority in service to senior citizens.

To avail of the program, the senior citizen must first register with, and secure a Senior Citizen ID issued by, the Office for Senior Citizens Affair of the city of municipality where he resides. There must be one in all cities and municipalities.

The business entities cooperating in the program are also given special privileges. Business establishments may claim the discounts given to the senior citizen as tax deduction from gross income for the same taxable year that the discount is granted. Private entities employing senior citizens are entitled to an additional deduction from their gross income equivalent to 15% of the total amount paid as salaries and wages. Individuals or non-government institutions establishing homes, residential communities or retirement villages solely for the senior citizens shall be accorded realty tax holiday for the first five (5) years starting from the first year of operation. They are likewise prioritized in the building and/or maintenance of the provincial or municipal roads leading to the aforesaid home, residential community or retirement village. They are also granted at least 50% discount for the consumption of electricity, water, and telephone.

Compliance with the law is mandatory. Stiff penalties, consisting of both fines and imprisonment, are provided for those who violate or abuse the law. Business permits, permit to operate, franchise and other similar privileges of erring establishments may likewise be cancelled or revoked.

What’s in a name, since a rose by any other name would smell as sweet?

Every person has a name by which he is known. The purpose of names is merely to identify a person and thus distinguish him from other individuals. Without names, it will be difficult and inconvenient for the world at large to address, or speak to, or deal with, one another.

Usually, the names of individuals consist of two parts: the given name or proper name, and the surname or family name. The given or proper name is that which is given to the individual at birth or baptism. The surname or family name is that which identifies the family to which he belongs and is continued from parent to child. The given name may be freely selected by the parents for the child; but the surname to which the child is entitled is fixed by law.

Under the law, legitimate children, those born within a valid marriage, shall use the surname of the father. Legitimated children, those born out of wedlock by parents who do not have impediment to marry, and eventually got married, shall also carry the surname of the father.

Illegitimate children, those born outside wedlock, use the surname of their mothers. However, if their fathers recognize their filiation in a public document or private handwritten instrument, they may carry the father’s surname.

An adopted child shall bear the surname of the adopter, because he is deemed to be a legitimate child of the adopters.

While the law does not give any reference to middle names, they do have practical or legal significance. Middle names serve to identify the maternal lineage or filiation of a person as well as further distinguish him from others who may have the same given name and surname as he has.

Thus, an illegitimate child whose filiation is not recognized by the father bears only the given name and his mother’s surname; he does not have a middle name. In the case of legitimate, legitimated child or recognized illegitimate child, his registered name contains a given or proper name, a middle name, and a surname.

For married women, the rules are as follows: A married woman may use her maiden first name and surname and add her husband’s surname, e.g. Jenny Sandico Megan. She may also use her maiden first name and her husband’s surname, e.g. Jenny Megan, or her husband’s full name, but prefixing a word indicating that she is his wife, such as Mrs. Jose Megan.

If the marriage is annulled, and the wife is the guilty party, the law obliges her to resume her maiden name and surname. If she is the innocent spouse, she may opt to resume her maiden name and surname. She may choose to continue employing her former husband’s surname, unless the court decrees otherwise, or she or the former husband is married again to another person.

When legal separation has been granted, the wife shall continue using her name and surname employed before the legal separation. A widow may use the deceased husband’s surname as though he were still living.

Some parents prefer that their children or grandchildren use the same names as theirs. This is allowed, however, the younger person is obliged to use such additional name or surname as will avoid confusion. The word “Junior” may only be used by a son. Grandsons and other direct male descendants shall either add a middle name or the mother’s surname, or add the Roman Numeral, II, III, and so on.

No person may use a different name and surname, except in special cases like that of a married woman, as names are something permanent. A change of name may be allowed only for good cause and by judicial proceedings.

The author Tarragon is a practicing lawyer in the Philippines.

In Legal Parlance is the author’s way of sharing with the world what Philippine laws are, and how the Supreme Court has interpreted these laws, on specific matters. It is the author’s intention that, by visiting this site and reading its contents, viewers will know more their rights and obligations, and assert these rights and better perform the obligations, pursuant to the law, justice and fairplay, on matters affecting their relationships with all and sundry, including the government.

Everything that appears in this blog is derived from the red-letter of the law, and from actual Supreme Court decisions. The author does not make any representation as to this blog’s absolute interpretation and application on particular situations. Even the Supreme Court, the highest court in this country, decides controversies based on a case’s peculiar factual backdrop.

The author shall take no responsibility or liability on damages or injury that may be sustained by anybody arising from, or in connection with, any matter written in this blog.

If there is anything that anybody may want the author to talk about, please submit a comment to her. To the best of ability and given sufficient time for research, the author will gladly oblige to the request.

For all legal concerns, Tarragon may be reached through email at tsoque84@hotmail.com.